Shadow's Light
by Hikari no Vikki
Summary: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves? (Hints of Link/Dark, main pairing is OC/Dark Link. A REVISION is IN PROGRESS.)
1. Midnight Ritual

Chapter One: Midnight Ritual

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 1

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link and Link are not mine. Or Zelda. Or Nintendo.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

**EDIT:** I changed the title, the description, and I'm going through and editing some of the story. It needs to correspond with Time Keeper in some events and others may need a little polishing.

.oOo.

Darkness is light. Brightness is shadow. Two boys were once one in the same.

Blond wisps of hair crowned ones head, while dark locks of black the other.

Ones eyes were an ocean blue; the other's a burning red.

One night while asleep, both children were taken from their homes.

Into the shadows was one child taken, and from it, would never leave.

His captor was a man, tanned darkly from too many hours under the sun. His aura was dark, like an evil man's would be. His hair, however sparse, was flaming red; redder than the child's own eyes. His eyes were shadowed, but the babe could still feel their gaze.

The baby cried out from the man's arms, pleading useless cries.

"Quiet, child!" the man whispered harshly, "That village is no longer your home."

He carefully took the child to the open desert gates, making a mental note to find the guard and give her severe punishment so she would know to not leave her post again.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Left your post again Nabooru?" His second in command was who he had left here to guard this gate was once again missing. Most likely she was off searching for the Silver Gauntlets so she could be rid of him. 'Useless,' he thought. But then again, she was his assigned mate. He still wished he could be rid of her, though. Maybe someday he'd find an excuse to do just that…

He covered the child's face, the black locks crumpling at the touch of his hands. Then he entered the desert, cunningly dodging every obstacle the sands threw at him with ease.

The baby meanwhile, as he ran through the desert, was burrowing deeply into its blankets, cowering at the man's presence.

He wanted to go back, to be safe in his mother's arms. Anywhere but here, near this man. But that was all gone now. His infant mind could not know what the man would do to him, he just wanted to be safe.

He was not safe here.

The man could feel the child hunkering down, desperately trying to flee the darkness.

"Oh no, child, the shadows are where you belong. The shadows will raise you; they'll care for you. They will become you, as you will become them, and no man will bring you down!" He uncovered its face, looking down into the child's terrified red eyes. He smiled evilly as his golden gaze was now revealed to him.

"This, child is the place of your rebirth!" His eyes became more crazed as he held the child in front of the temple. Its eyes grew big and it cringed in overwhelming fear. The man was laughing wickedly, still holding the infant up.

His cries, though loud, would never be heard that night, because the sands soaked up his sound. Tears spilled from his eyes at the way the man jostled him in his blankets.

The man slowly became sane again, still smiling as he took the babe into the temple. "Quiet, little one… do not disturb the silence…" Somehow seeming to understand, it tuned down its crying to a small whining that sounded like a kitten mewling.

The man pressed the child against his chest, silencing the cries once more. He looked down at it as he entered the temple: wondering if it would ever think of him as nothing but his captor. But, he thought, it was only a baby. It wouldn't remember them, the Lord and his wife. He was too young, too malleable. He was the child's father now. And his mother? The man frowned. Nabooru would not cooperate with his plans. So his mother would be dead, then. Supposedly dead soon after birthing him. It was true, to a certain extent.

Once inside, the man went up the steps of the temple. He pressed a small button, no larger than his fist. A door activated from the pressure and it opened up vertically so he could enter. Down he went into the tunnel, torches lighting magically as he descended, stopping at another door, but this one was open.

His steps became slow now, as if he felt remorse for what was about to happen to the child. He reprimanded himself for thinking such thoughts. The child belonged in the shadows, lest he be his downfall! He was pretty sure he'd killed that his aunt, and that other child… but it didn't matter now. This one would soon be his apprentice, and when he lead his siege against Hyrule Castle at last, they would recognize him as their ruler and the child as his prince.

His golden eyes shone in the single beam of light that illuminated the inner chamber. The circular altar, made of pure polished black granite, stood in the middle of a crisscross of six wooden torches surrounded by an elevated platform with four round, thick stone columns.

A figure came out of the shadows. A woman, royalty, from the way she held herself. She looked at the frightened child he held protectively against his chest, her own blood-red eyes piercing it through and through.

Her hair was a striking fierce black and her face was gaunt; with a sad expression on her face as if she had lost something dear to her.

"Is this the child?"

"Yes. May I ask your name Lady?" Her eyes became sharp and she shifted her gaze to his. "No. If you must have a name, call me what you have been." He flinched visibly, slightly, but still visible all the same. He nodded, slowly placing the baby on the altar.

She caressed its wavy locks and she took a sharp piece of rock from her pocket. She then broke it in half and created thin strips of rope to fit in the existing holes for a necklace. She placed both on either side of the child and opened a small spell book and began reading.

"Light, create darkness, Darkness, create light. Begin anew, great shadows, refresh in new blood, precious light. Switch places and join the two partners, connected you will be." As she spoke the rest of the spell, she placed two objects beside the stones. By one stone was a knife, and the other, a gold key. From the stones drained all specks of the opposite element, the shadows forcing the light out and the light doing the same. When the spell was completed, the sorceress dipped her index fingernail into a bowl of black ink, and she dented the boy's left palm.

He screamed in unbearable pain as the fingernail pierced his hand. Blood mixed with ink as the wound quickly sealed, leaving a faint black triangle as a scar.

He lay shivering in the fetal position, and she lifted the now white stone, which was embedded into the key itself. She levitated the key on her two hands and then made it disappear from sight.

As the child quieted, she wrapped it up in its cloth, inserting the knife, with its cover, inside. Then she placed the stone around his neck, and she shed a single tear, which landed in the still open cut.

She finished wrapping him up as the wound healed completely, and she handed him to the man.

"There you go… he is yours now. Be careful raising that child… you know he's not normal." He nodded as she cleaned up her belongings. Then something hit him. What did she mean by… partner?

"Lady?" "Hmm?" "What did you mean when you said partner?

She frowned. She knew he would ask. "A partner of the light," she told him, "That's what the other item was for. You see, when something from the light is taken into shadow, a look alike, or hikari, which still exists in the light, must exist as a balance. They might become either the person's enemy, or a friend, or in some cases: lover. But those aren't often. Usually they don't even realize that they're connected for some time." He nodded, and turned from her. He didn't wish to be here longer than necessary. Especially not in _her_ presence.

"Take care," she said as he walked to the door. Then he stopped.

"What will you name it?" She asked him. He stilled. "I…" "Well?" He looked down at the child, its gentle black locks mixing with light brown strands and some blond tufts as it slept against his chest.

"Well?" she said again. He looked up at her, his golden eyes plunging into her reds. "I will name him Peter." She scowled at him, her eyes flashing darkly. "That name will never do." "But it must! He can't by my son with a name like…Shadow." He stopped. He had almost pleaded to her, begged even.

Finally, she said, "Fine. But Shadow must be his true name. Do we have and understanding?" She paused.

"Ganondorf?"

He nodded as she left, disappearing into the dark, and he pressed the child against his chest once more before leaving and sealing the chamber for what he thought would be forever.

.oOo.


	2. Confusion

Chapter Two: Confusion

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 2

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link and Link are not mine. Or Zelda. Or Nintendo.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

In this chapter, I will introduce the point of view (POV) concept into the story.

I plan on only having your point of view (Reader's POV) and Shadow's point of view (obviously Shadow's POV) so far. If you would like Gannon's POV (he'll be here for most of the story I'll have you know) and Link's POV (who will also be here for most of the story because he's our poor Shadow's light), please let me know through reviews (Which I would REALLY appreciate you giving…).

**EDIT: **Grammar and whatnot. Some detail editing…

.oOo.

Reader's POV

The scorpion scuttled across the searing hot desert sand. It looked around, as if it sensed a presence nearby. It began to move ever so slowly toward its destination, a stone pedestal bearing a faded triangular symbol. Its pitch-black armor reflected the sun's light across the feet of a young man that the creature was sure had not been there a second ago.

His face was hidden, but it could see his hair in the dim light of the towering stone column. Most of it was a pure jet-black that mixed with short yellow-blond bangs and was tipped with a light chocolate brown color.

The young man carried a bow and quiver, filled to the brim with arrows. For sometime the creature stared at him, wondering if he was awake or asleep. Finally it decided he was taking a catnap and it turned away from him. What it didn't know was that its life would end soon, though it would be swift and clean.

With a soft twang, the shadow arrow sliced through the scorpion's thick armor as if it were butter, and embedded itself into it, killing it instantly.

The man stepped out of the darkness, picking up his catch. He examined it for just a bit as he took out a small jar with cloth tying the side together. He poked the scorpion's tail into the half-full glass jar and watched it slowly drip down, mixing with the other poison.

The shadows that lingered on his eyes was gone, revealing deep midnight pools that took on a tormented gaze full of sorrow, anger, and hatred.

He was eighteen today,

The young man was well built, tall, and handsome. Not to mention the fact that he was also son of a tyrant king. His name, was Shadow.

.oOo.

Shadow's POV

I'm turning eighteen today. Thank the goddesses this day has come. Why is today so important? It's not for marriage. That'ssomething for another time. Today I complete my training as a shadow mage, a day many of my father's servants have anticipated for so long. Though, I suspect it is mostly my father who has looked forward to it. The servants are not truly excited about it, it is more that they are… wary of me. Afraid of me, almost. I don't like it.

I, on the other hand, dread today. I'll be glad that it's over when it ends. My father says it's necessary for the 'evil' that he says will come to claim me. Why does he say this, when the shadows he's trained me to toy with, are made up of evil themselves? My father's been a bit bitchy at me for sometime now. Not like throwing things at me or beating me physically as he's done once in a while now, but if I don't keep a low profile around him, it'll sure to become worse than that eventually.

So here I am, at my only place of peace, this Spirit Temple. I know it better than my grandmas do. I know all of the hiding places, how to get into rooms only a child can fit through, you know, the like. Though I can't get to them anymore. He's sealed up all the cracks.

My father is most likely in a tizzy about my absence. I could care less. I'll go when I'm good and ready damn him! I sigh. One of my grandmothers stays here usually. Kotake is her name. I had hoped she'd be here, but when she wasn't, I decided to kill time and hunt scorpions instead. She's actually sweet on me; bless her. The other one, Koume, I don't see much of. Nor do I want to; thanks to the way I'd heard Kotake yell at her when I was a kid.

When I asked my father back then why they fought like that, all he said to me was this: _To be honest, my son, I really don't know. I think it's because they never really liked each other to begin with, even as kids. To me though, they're both special, because they were my surrogate mothers, and I love them as much as I do you._

Oh, if that were still true today. He loves me about as much as the Princess Zelda might've loved me: next to none. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating on that part, but he's not been on best terms with me since I turned seventeen.

"Are you alright, child?" I look up. Kotake! "How can I be alright," I answer half-heartedly, not bothering to sound excited to see her, "if Father hates me so?" "Hate you?" she asks, "Hate you? Never. I know my son, and he would never hate you. He used to dote on you didn't he?"

I nod, thinking about what she didn't know. She hadn't been to the castle in two years, so why would she know? "But," I protest, "he and I haven't been on solid ground with each other since I started sneaking out when I was sixteen. He's always tried to keep me close for some reason, but it's starting to get tiring and it chokes me, his protectiveness. Sometime he just needs to understand I need alone time."

She sighs and puts a hand on my left shoulder. "It'll be okay child. I'm coming to the castle with you, so I'll think up an excuse for you." I look up. Does she not see the warning in my eyes? Does she not feel my pleas that tell her to stay? I hold in a sigh a tell her this single line, "A man who does not take responsibility for his actions does not deserve to live."

She laughs. Why is she laughing? Is it at me, do I have something on my face? What IS she laughing at? She finally stops after a few minutes, trying so hard not to burst into another fit of laughter.

"Child," she tells me, "you have your mother's admirable spirit, don't you?" She shakes her head, still laughing a little. She raises one of her hands to push my bangs out of my eyes. Ah, the sun! Sometimes it sucks being a shadow mage. Wait, no that's just me. "Child," she says again, "I'm going with you, and it doesn't matter if you say no or not. I'll not see my precious grandson be tormented by such frivolous worries."

I do hope she's right. I don't want to see her yelled at… although I'm pretty sure she's been through it before. I sigh again. What IS it with me and sighing today? And I shake my head. What is happening to me? I suppress another sigh. Dear goddesses, if you can hear me, if you even deem me worthy, help me out of this, this… blessed Nayru, I can't even finish a sentence now.

Again, I sigh, leaning against the stone pole, slowly slipping into the abyss that is sleep. I'm confused, and a little lost, and I have absolutely no way to get back on track.

.oOo.


	3. Trial and Error

Chapter Three: Trial and Error

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 3

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link and Link are not mine. Or Zelda. Or Nintendo.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

Thanks to those who reviewed. I love you all.

**EDIT:** Grammar and editing… nothing new.

.oOo.

Reader's POV

He paced the floor impatiently. Where was that boy? Why did he have to disappear? And right on the day of his trial too! His golden eyes were full of anger and loathing that few would think he had a son. In truth, it wasn't _his_ son, but he didn't like flaws in his plan that could be exploited and cause his downfall.

This was the tyrant king, lord of darkness; the ruler of a lawless country. This was how Gannondorf liked it, always being in control and ruling a country with no set rules but his own. His "rules" constantly changed, ever-shifting, and never settling on one concept for long. His son however, did not seem to share his beliefs. Somewhere out there was his son, delaying the ceremony that every mage he'd ever trained had to go through, prolonging that moment where they would see if he was fit to control the shadows he mingled with so often, even in his dreams.

His anger grew with every minute his son wasn't there, waiting hand and foot on him for a sign to head to the trials. What happened to the little boy that used to say, "I love you Daddy," and, "Read me a bedtime story, Daddy," and all those little things that made a father's life worthwhile? If the boy didn't come home within the next hour…

The doors to his organ room swung open with a slam, shaking loose some dust and bits of rock from the ceiling. There in the doorway stood the boy he was waiting for. And now he was going to get it.

"Where were you, boy? Where did you go? You were supposed to be here hours ago!" He held the boy up by the collar slightly, "Well? Tell me you piece of- " He got smacked on his face. Hard. He was knocked back into the hard stone floor as fast as he was smacked. He looked at the boy with a glare that would have killed him if it weren't just a glare. He got up, a little blood trickling from his mouth and yelled at him, "Go to the trials, now! I'll deal with you later, you, you little piece of shit!" When he just stood there with his face coated in fear, he knew he was finally getting to the boy.

"Don't you _dare_ harm him, my son. I know what you've been doing to him even in my absence." Kotake came out from behind the boy. "You will deal with him later, but now you must deal with me. He was late because I delayed him, and I had forgotten today was his trial."

She turned to the boy. "Shadow, don't leave for the trials just yet. Your father will be there shortly and then we will leave together. Go spend some alone time in your room if you must." Then he turned and ran faster than he ever could before. His footsteps echoed through the halls as tears spattered occasionally on two or three steps that he ran down.

But with these tears was the even rarer, but still present occasional drop, of blood.

.oOo.

Shadow's POV

I don't know how long I ran, or if time even existed. I think I remember scribbling a note to Kotake telling her I was at the lake. She would know where to go, because I'd shown her my hiding place one or twice before.

I vaguely remember nailing the note to the door and them running again, ignoring the cut on my neck. I couldn't tell over the emotional pain if I was hurting from the cut or not, I just remember feeling a little faint and falling asleep on my horse that I somehow managed to tell to go to Lake Hylia.

When I woke up, the horse was at the lake, a little ways away from the fishing gallery. A faded line of dry blood streaked across the horse's right side of the neck. I somehow recall my father holding me up by the collar with his sharpened gauntlets on. Now the pain hits me as I press lightly onto the fresh scab. Yeah, it hurts. I'm too light-headed to curse right now, so all I manage to sound out is a hurt gasp of pain with no real words in it.

Since I'm too fuzzy-headed for my conscience to have recovered, my brain takes the controls and tells me, "Don't do that. It hurts. It will keep on hurting if you do it again."

My conscience wakes up and pushes my brain off its controls. It's still arguing with my brain about where I was and how I got here, so I start to rub the dried blood off of my horse. It comes off easily enough, but what do I do now? Somehow, it all comes back to me and the tears start again. They're slow and gentle this time, as clarity returns to me, though I have little room else in my mind except myself.

I slowly make my horse move carefully along the sandy outline of the lake so I can reach the other side. I begin to wonder how much time has passed since I left. Then I gasp a little and I turn my horse sharply around before reaching my haven. My little cottage. If I have time after this to be alone with my thoughts perhaps I could get myself in order then, but I have to go now or else I risk another fight. My life will already be tough enough now because I slapped him. I'm really going to get it after the trials… if I even pass them.

I urge my horse to go faster now, and it breaks into a full gallop. I know where to go. My room. My third place of peace. Unless my father's there, it's a quaint little haven for me there as well.

I arrive at the castle after commanding the disgusting ReDeads in the abandoned castle market to let me pass. As my horse trudges up the slope to the castle ever so slowly, I ponder on why I slapped him. I know now I wasn't thinking clearly at all, or I wouldn't have done it. Or would I? I'm confused. It's like I don't know myself anymore. Maybe I should talk to my attendant about it. He's usually good at things like this. I force myself to feel nothing as I silently put up my horse and sneak to the door of my room. The note, thankfully, is still there, pinned sideways to the middle of the door.

I snatch it up and rip it into pieces. There must be no evidence that it was ever there.

I bury my face into my hands when I enter, being careful not to let the door slam in my anger. I close the door as softly as I can with my foot, and I throw myself onto the bed. My shoulders shake softly and tears spill out of my eyes faster than I can say my name, but I do not cry out. I'm not the type to.

I do not notice my door opening slowly as one of the prisoners that comes to clean my room every noontime stands there in disbelief. His old, experienced eyes look at me with deep concern and pity.

I know him well, this particular prisoner. He once told me he had a daughter that would be my same age right about now if he knew she was alive. But now he just watches me with sad eyes, most likely wondering why I'm sobbing like this. I told him yesterday that I wouldn't be in my room when he came; that I would be at the trials. He's probably also wondering why I'm not there. He looks around the room, seems to think it's clean enough, so he turns to leave.

"Wait!" I whisper. I only whisper for fear of my voice betraying my unsteady emotions. He turns to me, and glances back out into the hallway, his ear twitching, as if he were listening for something. He looks back towards me.

"I'll come back. But not now." He walks up to me and wipes my faces clean of my tears with a handkerchief from one of his pockets. "Your father's arguing with the Lady Kotake around a few corners from here." I raise an eyebrow. "You can hear that?" He chuckles. "I've learned how to, down here. You should try it. But, you need to prepare yourself. Put whatever's happened between you and your father in the tiniest box you can imagine, and lock it away. You need to be strong now. You only need to fear him if you give yourself the consent to." He flashes a gentle smile as he turns away.

"You're better than that, Shadow."

I don't hear the door close as he leaves. I was there for a long while, not crying anymore, just feeling terribly lost as I tried to do what he said and lock the incident with my father away in a far corner of my mind. I've basically lost all track of time since this morning so I had no clue what time it was.

At some point something clicked in my head and I realized that he was right. I'm better than the coward I was certainly being at the moment. I couldn't let my father be the cause of my fear, I told myself. I would talk with him like the adult I was, and we would sort things out. I snorted. If I even live that long after the trials are done. My father still hasn't had his time to rant at me, give me a lecture, and bitch at me some more…

My door swings open as my father's tall, dark form appears in the doorway. I quickly utter a spell to make the redness and the puffy eyes recede. Despite my vanity, I've put most of my fear behind me, so I stand up to meet him.

I sense he's still angry, although he doesn't show it. Before he has a chance to say anything I cannot stop myself from saying something. All warning signs are still up in my semi-conscious control center, so all my mind can make me say was, "I'm sorry, Father. However, I cannot deny that you did threaten me, and I had the right to retaliate. But, I was also in the wrong for making you wait, and making you wait even still. Forgive for my transgressions, and I'll forgive you yours." I want to wince at my audacity, but I keep still.

He doesn't quite know what to do with me, as he's tense in front of me. No frantic praying runs through my mind, nor does any hopeful pleas to have mercy. It's just me in there, waiting, and him before me, not quite knowing what to do with me. Part of me knows he's on the verge of telling me to shut up, but instinct won't listen.

Slowly he walks toward me and wraps his arms around me, taking me into a hug. Finally, instinct begins to have had its fill and lets normal conditions resume.

Suddenly I'm standing there in his arms trying desperately to not break the hug. My hands automatically lock into a clutch/cling mode, but it feels wrong to me so I try to move them into a more comfortable position. I feel like a child again back when he used to comfort me from a nightmare, but something is… off. Not right. I force my arms to relax and I make them release the clingy hug and do my best not to recoil from his touch.

He finally releases me and gives me a strange look. I'm puzzled, no, I really don't get the message. I think I've got one of those invisible to everyone else but you people waving a "Clueless" sign on top of my head. I sort of turn my head sideways a bit just in case he hasn't seen the little guy with the sign.

"I know you feel sorry, but that doesn't change what you did. After the trials you and I are going to have a man-to-man talk, alright? Don't worry, I've promised Kotake not to hurt you again." I saw her out of the corner of my eye smiling at me as she turned around and left. He pulled my ear closer to his mouth where I could almost taste the scent of blood on his breath. "But when she's gone, if you put one toe out of line, I am your father and can do as I please."

He let me go, softly, but to the point where he made sure I got the message.

For some strange reason, there is no fear anymore. Why can't I feel it? New warning signs are put up and answerless questions run through my head as I'm prepped for the trials.

They slip on the black tunic, the one with all those little pockets for bombs and rupees, and all those things. A sword is strapped to my back and a long black hat is placed on my head. My boots are left as they are, along with my leggings and undershirt. I'm given no more than this alone. Other than my shadow sprite, Portal, this is all I'm given.

All senses forget why I couldn't feel fear a second before as my instinct goes into overdrive. I walk from my last sanctuary into the bright light that waits before me. It's time to begin my trial.

.oOo.

Reader's POV

The room was silent except for the soft velvet boots clicking on the stone floor. The light he'd seen when entering had blinded Shadow for a minute, and then it disappeared when he needed it the most. But this, he knew, was part of the trial. He had to find his way, half-blind, in the dark all the way out of this maze.

"Shadow-kumi." In the dark, he whipped around, looking what he hoped was left and right in the inky blackness. Suddenly he realized it was his shadow sprite that was calling him. "What is it, Portal-kani?" "Maybe you should try asking the shadows if they know the way out of here."

There was no immediate reason to say no, so he grasped bits of the invisible purple flame and brought them close to his chest. These shadows were young, so they must have only arrived here recently. "Shadows," he whispered hoarsely, "Do you know the way out of here?" He let them go so they could contemplate this question. They surrounded him, going in and out, over and around him, through him, under him, until they had in trapped in a soft web of shadows. It was a strange way to say yes, but they were doing this to show him the way in the dark. His eyes became clear and there seemed to be no blackness at all, it seemed to be well lit from some unknown source.

His eyes clouded over as the shadows took their hold. They coaxed his waiting body to walk, to go further into the maze. Around one turn they went, and another, and another. There seemed to be no end in these stone walls and corridors, passageways with no real exit.

Then the shadows left him at a three way fork. "What are they saying?" asked Portal, who's faded purple light had returned to his small, round, winged body.

Shadow himself wasn't quite sure. It was as if they were too terrified to tell him. But he could make out his instructions. He never turned to Portal, but he did say this, "They tell me that two of my fears lie in two of these roads, and those are dead ends. One of these paths is the correct one, the one without fear or uncertainty." "But why won't they show us that path?" questioned Portal again. "Because if the shadows lead me to the end with no strings attached, I won't earn my right to become one with them." Portal's tiny transparent wings drooped and he sighed. "Very well, Shadow-kumi. Proceed with caution."

So Shadow reluctantly took two steps forward before finally taking a wild, hopeful guess that the right road was the correct one. He could sense Portal shivering, less shadows lingered here. He too, began to shiver, the heat in the corridor rapidly decreasing. Why was this happening, he wondered, and he added, realizing he had taken the wrong road, what fear of his could possibly dwell here?

He knew he could not turn back until the said fear was faced, so he continued. He began to feel fear again, to him, this was a relief. Why, he did not know, but it somehow gave him the courage to continue on.

Yet when he came to the corridor's end, he was utterly baffled. What fear of his had he seen? He went through all the possible fears, heights, giant things, loneliness and despair. What had he overlooked? Still puzzled, he turned around, walking back to the three way fork.

"Well _some _kind of fear must have been there, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to turn around." He tried asking Portal, but even the little shadow sprite didn't have an answer.

Two roads left… it was a fifty-fifty chance he would get out of here without facing another fear. His courage had now left him, and the fear was slowly slipping away. Afraid he would lose it entirely, he ran into the left corridor blindly, running so fast that even Portal had to fly at his highest speed to keep up. "Shadow, what's happening to you?" Then he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Look up, Shadow, at that mirror!" "What mirror?"

Then he saw it, the white reflecting surface. Trying to shake to feeling of despair off his shoulders, he crept up to it. Expecting to see his own reflection, and nothing more, he was shocked at what he saw.

A boy, his age, with all of his looks, stood in the mirror before him. What fear was this? The shadows whispered to his ear, "This is the mirror that shows the light in you. Brave this fear, by finding the light within."

He was still stunned at this image, this so called light within. The boy's hair was a pure blond, and his clothing was green in the places where Shadow had black. But what captivated him the most was his eyes. Those clashing pools of azure blue. He wanted something, to remember something, anything about this boy. The mirror's image swirled, and showed him the inside of a home.

He could see two children, playing in a playpen beside two mothers. Their faces were clouded over by shadow, but his attention was on the child. It was tiny, like the other, with thick black locks on his head. The unruly curls were past his ears, and tipped with what looked to be a chocolate brown color. Its bangs were colored by a color he knew all too well. Blond. The bangs were blond.

This child was him.

A man came and picked him up, laughter obviously resounding from them both. He caught a glimpse of his face, the father he must've been. How could this be? This man was not the father he knew, so why was this memory being shown?

And then it hit him, he had been kidnapped.

He doubled over in shock, once again on the verge of tears. He knew he could never tell his "father" he knew, but if he didn't it would destroy him. He had to escape, but he had to stay. What was the answer to all this?

The light within. The shadows had known. They'd always known. He had to find the light within. Then he looked up, at the other child, the blond with light blue eyes. He put two and two together and said silently in disbelief, "This mirror version of me is my light within? Does he even exist? What was he to me back then? A friend? A brother?" But the mirror had vanished. His fear had been passed. He had to go back and let the shadows go.

He got up, sore and in complete shock of all the information he had gotten all at once. Portal knew that whatever Shadow had experienced must have been frightening as well, because he was shaking severely when the sprite tried to sit down.

Shadow's shaking stopped, but his thoughts were still lost in that corridor. He made it back to the three way's entrance, and, pushing those thoughts aside, walked right through the middle hallway. One foot in front of the other, he crossed the castle's side exit bridge over the lava pit that the castle was built above. He didn't quite know how it existed there now, since it hadn't when Hyrule Castle has been here.

A few miles across, was the same boy Shadow had seen in the mirror earlier. But Shadow didn't look at him, nor did the boy look at him, as he was staring at the castle in shock and fright. He turned, running away from it, most likely hoping this was all a bad dream.

But Portal saw it, and he saw the girl that ran after him, the one dressed in white. He wouldn't tell Shadow, or he risked being overheard. Shadow would have to figure this out himself.

Shadow passed through the door, walking into the light at last. There, in front of him, was Ganondorf. Beside him, Koume and Kotake. Shadow's eyes were cold as he stared at the man in front of him. He forced the shadows to pierce him, to make him _know_ he knew. His eyes narrowed dangerously at his "father" and he stepped forward, proclaiming with his stance that the shadows obeyed him and him alone.

"Well done," he said. "I didn't expect you to come out with such confidence. Now step up to the altar, my son." Shadow's eye twitched at those words. Words he knew were no longer true. But he did as he was told and stepped up.

"Let the true trial begin!"

Shadow was surprised. True trial? What in the world was that? Then something whistled in the sky far away from where they were.

"Damn that Dampe! What's he gotten himself into _this_ time? Koume, go see what he's done now." "Yes my pretty child. If he has any interesting information, I'll bring him to you so you can get it out of him and kill him into his second afterlife, sir." It was sick how she talked to him, Shadow thought. He hated it when she spoke as if she shared his disgusting ambitions.

As soon as she left, he turned his attention back to Shadow. "Now, my son, let the shadows consume you! Let them bend your every will! Their power is yours to command!"

Shadow's plan however, did not go with what he just said. Shadows began to creep out of the ground and the walls surrounding them, but they did not cloud the skylight above them. Shadow smirked darkly as these 'evil' shadows pretended to try to take control. It was then that only Kotake saw what was really happening.

Shadow had taken control of them, and with their permission, made it look like _they _were in control instead of him. His manipulations consisted of weaving the darkness around him, just like they had done in the maze. Then he forced a submissive expression onto his face, a façade in which Gannondorf now licked up like water. "Yes, my son, let them take you!"

He began to move in the shadows, but not by his own will. _"What does he mean by 'take me'?"_ Surely not… Then the shadows came with a reply, _"Shadow dancing. It is dangerous if you don't know how to do it. Let us show you how."_ They limited his control over them, so he could still let the darkness weave around him while the dance began.

The feeling was incredible! Never in all his life had he felt so alive. _"To dance with the shadows is to get closer than anyone to true darkness. It is as we said, dangerous without knowing how." _

Kotake wasn't sure if her son or grandson had planned this as the dance continued, but she knew she would have to tell the boy soon… She would tell him of what her son really was, and that it was a secret he would one day have to use against him.

Slowly, the dance ended, with the shadows receding back into the corners and walls with a flash of dark energy. Both Ganondorf and Kotake stood back in disbelief. He had not only been able to harness the power of the shadows, but also _dance___with them.

Shadow just stood there with the wind blowing his hat softly. Then he turned to face them. Just as he was about to say something, Koume came in with Dampe in her hands, trying to get out by wriggling and squirming hard in her clutches. Ganondorf didn't have the time for Dampe right now, but he would have to go and deal with it.

"Kotake, I believe since this intrusion will take up the rest of my night, you have no need to stay, correct?" She nodded sadly behind his back, looking at Shadow with tearless eyes.

So she left without a word, and he dismissed the boy to his room. As Shadow passed Ganondorf, he hesitated in grabbing his collar. Shadow let the shadows' power purge through him as he passed, warning him that he was no longer the defenseless little child Ganondorf had always thought him to be.

With his trial done and his error corrected, Shadow's steps echoed through the castle as he walked to his room, knowing now what he had to do.

.oOo.


	4. Light's Encounter

Chapter Four: Light's Encounter

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 4

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link, Link, Zelda, and Nintendo are not mine.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

Thanks to htrtkuy, **Fushica**, **twilightprincessangel**, **hmasteraz**, and **HimmelsDraculina** for reviewing.

Now, to business. I neglected to explain to my readers what the "fears" were supposed to represent in my last chapter so this is my explanation. The first hallway, or the first "fear", was the fear of not feeling fear. Shadow isn't totally a creature of darkness, so he _does _have human feelings and of course, fears. He's afraid that he won't be able to fear certain things at times he thinks he should.

There are exceptions to such a rule, however. If people are in a situation of imminent danger to themselves, there is a natural response of being scared or feeling the need to be defensive. That is the only exception unless you have no heart. The second "fear" is technically not a fear. It's more of a 'this is what you have to find inside you to do this' kind of fear. If you had to say there was a fear, it would be the fear of finding that something you've known for all your life is really just a hoax, or a lie.

**EDIT:** The servant scene is better now. :)

.oOo.

Shadow's POV

That boy… I just can't seem to forget about him. For the past week I couldn't forget him. Who exactly is he, and what does he have to do with me? The shadows told me nothing about him, only that he's the key to my light within. What is that? Is it some kind of power? Am I not meant for the darkness? Does my purpose lie elsewhere?

Right now I'm lying on my bed, contemplating these things. Ganondorf never really did much to me, thanks to that Dampe. Speaking of which, I overheard him saying something about, "Hyrule's savior has come! The goddesses smile upon us!" Then again, the poor guy never makes sense…

Someone knocks on my door. "Come in." My voice has changed considerably since my shadow dance. The shadows say that it's possible that it's just an effect of the darkness being so close to my heart but not tainting it. "Come in," I say again. The door creaks open, I really should get it fixed… but in the doorway stands the one person I think can help me. It's that servant, Arthur. He's the one that always cleans my room, remember?

Anyway…

I tilt my head towards him. He enters, looking like he wants to talk to me. He must know that I want to talk to him. Maybe it's that parent sense about him. He did used to have a daughter. I would have loved to meet her. In his hands is a silver tray with the usual lunch plate he shares with me. But he doesn't seem to be as happy as he usually is. He closes the door behind him and I realize that I still haven't said anything.

"I'm sorry, my mind was elsewhere. Ever since the trials, I haven't been myself." He turns around and sets the tray on my bedside. Sitting in the chair he usually sits in, his violet eyes settle on mine. "I can tell. You don't say much to anyone, even me. Is there something you could tell me?"

I want to nod, but is it a good idea? I say it anyway. "What I told you last time, I'm pretty sure it's true. What I don't get though, is _why _he did it." For shame, Shadow, for shame. The words came out as one long word more than a sentence… I tend to do that when I'm depressed. At least I didn't yell, right? He looks up, his eyes narrowing. "He's not the kind man you've taken him to be." Like I hadn't known that already. "I understand." "Are you sure? He almost took my life when he pillaged my village. He nearly did the same to my daughter, wherever she is now. But because I was one of the few who were still alive after the fire, he enslaved me instead of killing me."

His words are hot and angry, but they lost their bite by the end of his tirade. It was almost like the last, final spurts of a dying fire. It made me angry just listening. He lost the gift of raising his own daughter because of my "father". How many other lives has he ruined?

His lip quivers, and his face falls down, looking at his lap. A mixture of pity and sadness forces my arms up onto his shoulders and my hands to grip them tightly.

"I could do something about it."

He looks up at me sharply. "I suppose you could. But, really, my resentments are nothing. You could go on living in the safety you live in now." I sit up, bracing my back against the wall. My eyes bore into his.

"Arthur, please. Tell me what ails you. I can assure you that as long as you are in my confidence alone, your words are safe."

He stares at me for a long moment. I wait patiently as his eyes study my face, searching for the truth he already knows exists. Finally he gives in, sitting back in his chair and straightening himself. He used to be someone important, I'm sure, but the strength of his former character has been replaced with something gentler. More patient. You'd have to be, to deal with me all those long years.

"I was… the leader of the Sheikah before Kakariko was attacked during Ganondorf's takeover. You knew about that, didn't you?"

I raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Not about your former title, but the takeover… it makes more sense to be so, rather than the disagreement over some clause in the treaty the King failed to uphold. At least, that was the story that he forced on me of why we had moved here from the desert."

Arthur nodded thoughtfully. "I would still be careful. He's going to notice if you start asking him certain things, and I don't want to see you hurt. It would be a pointless endeavor if you were hurt in the process of weaning information from him as it is." I nodded absently. There was something I wanted to ask him. Something that had been bothering me since the trial…

"Is Ganondorf my father, sir?"

Arthur spluttered, flabbergasted. "You mean to say that he isn't?" I nod slowly. "Something… showed me in the trials. But, judging by your reaction, I'd say you know little about it."

"Next to none, I'd say. Not to say, but I could gather some information for you if you're truly that curious." I hold up a hand. What's next, I wonder?

"I won't have you put yourself in harms way either. If you can get any information safely, then by all means, do so, but I wouldn't ask of you anything you wouldn't ask of me. Don't take any risks you think might get you killed. And here, I suppose there would be a lot of them, especially since you are still a servant, even if you're my attendant."

Arthur nodded, a half smile creeping up at the edge of his lip. What's he smiling at? "Well, all right. I feel better now about myself, though it shouldn't have taken a talk with you to do that." I shrug. "We all have our moments."

He scoffed. "Sure. Anyway, just remember to be careful. Is there anything else?" I wanted to ask about the boy I'd seen in the mirror, but something inside told me I had to keep quiet about that. I shook my head no. "All right, then. You know where to find me if you need me." He languidly took his share of the still uneaten food off the tray and walked out my door, closing it on the way.

It hadn't solved any of my problems, but at least I could categorize them now.

Or… maybe not.

Which one should I work on first? Which one's the most important? My gut says my light within but I say that getting away from here is the first thing I should work on.

Still… what about the boy? Before _that_ happened, my original thoughts were on him. The shape of his face, eyes, nose, everything… it was all identical to mine. Did it have something to do with the spell Ganondorf mentioned earlier? I was but a baby when the so called 'spell' was placed on me so I have no possible idea of what really happened. Gods, I need to get out.

I look at my small window. It's cloudy, as always. The sun hasn't shined without the cover of clouds here in seven years. But the clouds are darker than usual, threatening rain or thunderstorms. I can brave a little storm, right?

.oOo.

Reader's POV

Dismal, gray clouds hang over the sleepy town, drizzling a thin blanket of raindrops over it. No cats run amok, nor any dogs, for in this drizzle, there seems to be a sense of foreboding and defeat.

Even the Cuccos that usually pecked about the town seem to huddle in their pen for comfort against the warm but cold wind that blows along the musty air from the volcano, Death Mountain. The mountain itself also seems to be shirking from the clouds and their rain.

The few that wandered the dirty, dank streets were bundled up tight under layer upon layer of cloaks or huddled up in groups of three or four.

Inside Kakariko's only bar sat a young man slumped over the counter. His bright blond hair was singed and reeked of fire and sulfur from the mountain's rocks. The right sleeve of his scarlet red tunic was torn and his left one had the edges of it burnt away. Along the side of his right arm was a long, spindly, and quite fresh, scar.

"Are you alright?"

His head jerked up. His frantic azure blue eyes searched for the owner of the voice. Finally they came to rest on a young women about his age with near waist-length, fiery red hair and fierce scarlet eyes. Over her silky blue dress was a milk-white apron tied behind her back. She put a hand on his left shoulder. "Next time, take me along, will you? You might actually make it out without injury." She smiled softly and held the left side of his face in her right hand.

He shook his head. "I- I don't want you to get hurt." She passed him a mug of Fairy Whiskey. "Drink that. It'll help and it's on me." She winked and leaned in a little more, next to his ear. "And I _am_ coming with you next time, even if all I can do is shoot stuff," was all she whispered before turning around, dropping ten rupees into the payout pot. Not quite sure what to think, he sipped up the whiskey and left the bar.

He stood at the door watching the downpour. "Great. Rain…" he muttered. With the snap of his finger, his scarlet red tunic turned to his usual bright leaf-green. He snapped his fingers a second time, which added a hood to the collar by morphing his hat. He slipped it over his head and stepped into the soggy street.

He knew he wouldn't get far in this torrent, so he just crossed the street and sat down on a patch of dry dirt, quite possibly the only one in the whole town.

His back was to the wooden wall and his legs were stretched out far enough for comfort. A raindrop or two that hung from the edge of the tin awning above him dropped slowly onto his boots. He shifted his back against the wall. On his back, was a shield, and a long, shiny, shimmering sword that bore the royal family's emblem, the crest of Hyrule, the Triforce.

Slowly, the rhythmic pat of the drops on his boots and the clicking and tapping on the roof above him lulled him gently into a light doze.

.oOo.

Shadow's POV

"Here's yer shingles lad. Better get that roof patched up before the _real_ storm hits." The smith, Dansley, slides the last few shingles I need for my roof. I do the same as forty of my hard-earned rupees go into his payout pot. He's a kind man, despite his looks. I tend to see into people that way.

I smile and say a soft, "Thank you." He nods and I pick up the shingles and shove them into my bag. Then I swing the bag over my shoulder and head for the door.

SLAM! "Ack!" I think I scared someone.

My immediate response is to close the door behind me as quickly as I can and look for whoever I might've scared, which I did in a flash.

"I'm so sorry…" "There's no need. I really shouldn't have dozed.. not the best placed to be, now is it? Sitting in front of a door… really!" The voice sounds familiar… I finally look down at him. Then I nearly gasp, but with all the excitement, I seem to have no air to do so. I do manage to whisper a small, "You…" but it is barely audible, even to my ears.

It's him, the boy from the mirror. But now that I see him up close, for real, I now realize that this is no boy. He looks to be about my age, but his eyes are not as experienced as mine. They seem childish, but behind them hides a great burden of some kind that suppresses this carefree side.

He stands up, wincing as he does so. It's then that I notice that he has a long, spindly burn on his right arm. "I- I can help with that." My voice is timid, but he can hear it. "Huh? Oh, that? No, really, it's nothing…" He trails off, rubbing it a little. He's got pride. I just noticed that. Pride… it's something I wish I had. He sighs, bringing me out of my revere.

"I guess should let you. Most people would insist I get this looked at, but you," he paused, pointing a finger in my direction, "you haven't said a word. All you said was that you could help. Why?" I carefully consider my answer, hoping that he won't see the double meaning.

"Pride." I answer, "It's something that I see in myself. We both hang onto it as much as we can, but in the end there is a point when we have to let go." The air is still as his eyes search for mine under the hood of my black cloak. "Hmm.. Yes, that's true." I try not to let my shoulders sag with relief. I'm not out of the woods yet. "So," he continues, "may I ask your name?"

No. The question I dreaded that he would ask. Then I remember the name Ganondorf used in front of his servants. "Peter. My name is Peter." I'm tempted to ask his, but I'm not sure if I should. "Link," he replies, shaking my hand, "Pleasure to meet you."

My mind is racing and I'm on the verge of a mental breakdown in front of the worst person possible! This can't be happening… I forced myself to slow down and assess the situation. "Maybe you could help me with something? I do need a bit of help with the err, uh.. burn I've got." He swallowed hard and shook his head as if he regretted what he said. You know, I don't' think it wouldn't be that bad… I just better be home before he notices I'm gone.

And so I sit down, slowly, and take my bag off my shoulder. I take my gloves off and examine his arm. He winces a little as my hand grazes it, good goddesses, how did he get such a burn? "How did you get…" I trail off and he looks up. "How did I get it? I, uh, burnt myself putting up a candle. That wax really stings." Well, that's one difference. The kid's a poor liar. I know this because what he has is no candle burn; it's definitely something else.

But, I say nothing and I set to work, trying very hard not to look at his eyes. I don't want him to see them; I don't want him to know. He wouldn't know a thing about me just by my voice, but my eyes… people's eyes tell everything. They can tell if they have fear or malice, kindness or love; a great many things. But they also tell a person about who they are on the inside. Since I don't really have a clear mind about me, I don't know what he'd see. On the other hand… what would his eyes show me?

I've just realized that I've stopped moving. Half my mind is screaming, _"KEEP MOVING!"_ and the other half doesn't really care. As I said before, I want as little interaction with him until this is all settled. Or at the very least, until _my _problems are settled.

So I listen to the side of my brain with the loudest voice and continue. He helps me a bit, handing me some herbs and things from his own stash of items. As I'm finishing dressing his wound and in the process of preparing to bandage it, he says to me, "There's something about you that's oddly familiar. Have I met you anywhere before?"

I nearly stop. Quickly, I recover and come up with, "No, I don't think so," as my comeback and continue my preparations.

He tenses as a wrap the bandage around the burn. "I'm sorry if this hurts you. There's really no other way…" He laughs. "I could have just drank one of those red potions and it would have healed in minutes. But do you _honestly_ know what they taste like? I'd rather suffer for a few days with a burn or wound than have one of those things." I chuckle. Not that I actually _like _those things, believe me, I don't, but it was just so funny watching him rant about how disgusting they tasted.

"You know," I reply back, "the green ones don't taste much better than the red ones do." He snorts and then looks at me. Even though I'm not looking at him, I can still feel when he looks at me. So he looks at me and he says, "Actually, they aren't that bad. Personally, I think they've got a bit of a green apple taste to them."

I can't help it, I outright laugh. My little laughing fit lasts for a good long while, and then, without noticing it, I lift up my head and meet his eyes for the first time.

Looking into them now, I see sorrow. Sorrow, but a little bit of fear as well. Not essentially a fear of me, but of something he's recently seen. But behind that fear and sorrow lies happiness. I can tell just from looking at his eyes, that he is a kind person at heart. I now have a sudden urge to bring that person out, to feel that kindness. But do I deserve it?

"You have pretty eyes…" I mutter. "So do you…" he mutters back. We look at each other simultaneously and then we both blush. Mine isn't as noticeable as his is, but I quickly shake it off and apologize.

"You really do have pretty eyes," I say, my right hand rubbing the back of my neck nervously, "It's just that I didn't mean to actually voice it. I'm sure lots of people say it to you. That, and pretty… just sounds really girly." He nods, still blushing slightly. I start packing my stuff and getting ready to leave when he hands me my bag of shingles. "You dropped this," he says, "I think you might need it. And thank you for helping me." That's all he said, and just like that, he got up and left.

I got up and watch him trudge away in the light drizzle. _He isn't so bad…_ I thought, _for an other. _My mouth twists up into a small smile. And then I silently thank him for my brush with kindness.

.oOo.


	5. Purpose

Chapter Five: Purpose

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 5

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link, Link, Zelda, and Nintendo are not mine.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

Many thanks to those who reviewed especially one anonymous reviewer named 'Mike'.

I thank you so much for reviewing and giving me your wonderful, and exceptionally constructive critisim. I must admit that I did some things that I might not have or may have meant to do that weren't to my liking such as the kiss with the servant, which after your review I _seriously _considered rewriting the first time I read your review. After a day or so of having a mental battle over whether I should or shouldn't do so, I read your review again, this time looking at every aspect of it.

I realized, then, that the review both praised me and pointed out a few of my faults, which when I read the review the first time I wasn't able to quite grasp the concept, but it also told me, in a strange sort of way, that it was okay to be criticized because that pointed out some of a writer's faults so that they can become better. So thank you, Mike. If you aren't going to be a writing critic in real life, you should be, because you sure know how to be one.

**EDIT:**

.oOo.

?'s POV- It's been awhile since I've seen him. Strange person he was. I've asked him time and time again about his family but he refuses. He's asked me about mine and I say he has to tell me his first. He stopped asking after about three times and we left the topic well enough alone.

The truth is I don't have a family to talk about. I never knew my father, and my mother died saving my life. I remember something else though, a feeling of safety. And then that went away one night… a night full of smoke, fire, and blood. He might have been my friend. Who knows? I surely don't. This guy's supposed to meet me here tomorrow night. Why am I here then? I've nothing better to do. Actually I do, but I'm not too keen on diving to the bottom of a lake and going through a trap-filled temple.

Yes, that's my life. The life of a hero. Some hero… I didn't ask for this, it was asked _of_ me. I hate prophecies. I hate time. I hate my life… and yet I don't hate myself. I want to, but I can't. That's why I'm here, sulking. Because I want to hate myself but can't. Weird but true.

Who am I? Do you really want to know?

I am Link, Hero of Time.

.oOo.

**Shadow's POV- **

This is the sixth time I've snuck out in the past two weeks. I hate that I have to sneak out like this, but it's the only way. Sometimes I just do it to go the my little haven, my house. It's more of a shack, really, I swear that it looks like some kind of wood cottage, but a house nonetheless.

I'm going out this time because I'm meeting someone someplace tonight and I want to have a little fun first. Don't ask me what my idea of fun is, you wouldn't believe it if I told you. Let's just say that I'm going to a bar and leave it at that.

No, my real idea of fun is a night that you spend a night with a person you care about and nothing interrupts you. I don't have anyone like that, so I've never really been able to have the fun that I've wanted. See, I told you that you wouldn't believe me. I'm just going to a bar to play a game or two, have a drink and leave. Then I'll go shoot that heck out of some Cucoos from the safety of some building for a while and head out when I'm ready. Why am I leaving Ganon's dark, dirty tower for that?

I want out. And I'll leave it at that.

He coops me up he does, it's suffocating to say the least. The things I've dreamed about doing to him… how I'd love to do them so much. I usually take it out on some moblin somewhere if I'm able to get out at some point in the day. You know, Kotake never left the castle, and I'm awfully glad she did. Sometimes Ganon's caught me sneaking back into the castle and she's always there at the right time to tell him that she sent me out to get some fresh air. I need it, the air in that castle really can't be good for anyone's health.

Although that first time I snuck out and he caught me, and Kotake wasn't there to save me. He dragged me by the collar, WITH his horn-tipped gauntlets on, up the stairs to his organ chamber and he overreacted. He beat me senseless is what he did. Sometimes he does it for no reason now. He took his whip and beat my back, my chest and my face. The scars on my chest are gone now, but the ones on my back are still very fresh. I have one streak across my chin that I think will never heal. I'm beginning to fear him now, I really am.

But I'll never fear him enough to stop running, to stop sneaking out even in the dead of night. When I come home this next time I know at some point he's going to do it, he's going to beat me. And when he finds out that I've been speaking to his enemy, to Link? If I know him he'll either kill me or beat me till I'm unconscious right then and there. Some father. I really do need to get away, and soon.

Well, here's the bar, better find a place to sit I guess.

So I do, looking over the menu on one of those little cards they have in the little wooden boxes. I think I'll have something sweet, something light, something…

I look up for no reason in particular to see a girl walking towards me. She's got flaming red hair and kind red eyes… wearing this pretty green dress and a white waitress apron. The girl herself is very pretty. I shake my head. She's walking towards me and I've got to order. She's a foot away. Now she's- "May I take your order sir?"

Right… in front of me.

"Uh.." "Sir?" I blink. "Order? Oh, yeah.. uh, I'll have the Sweet Apple Tea." "And would you like real apples with that?" Still beautiful… Shadow pull it together! "Sure." And now she's leaving. Praise Farore she is.

Great. I'm love struck by a girl I probably won't see again. Wonderful.

Back to my previous thoughts…

Ganon. If he found out about Link he'd kill me. Actually, because I know him so well, he'd use me somehow to do his dirty work and kill the kid. I don't want to do that to him, not to Link. He's my light half, my other, who I've gotten to know quite well over the past week.

He won't tell me a single thing about his family, I'm beginning to think he doesn't have one. If he does, he's just like me, without my birth parents and trapped on a path I had no say in taking.

He's also very kind. It's a wonder how he fights, I've never seen him in action. I don't know if I want to with the sword he's got. The Master Sword… the blade of evil's bane… I wonder what would happen if I touched it? I've consorted with the shadows, and I've killed countless creatures without mercy. Would it show me mercy? I very much doubt it.

And the beautiful girl is back but at least I'm not staring anymore. But I'm still drooling. I managed to hide the drooling with a towel that was on the stool next to mine. I don't care what's on it, I just care if she doesn't see I'm drooling.

"Here you go. A Sweet Apple Tea with real apples," she said and winked. "It's on the house, okay? You look terrible." "Tell me about it," I mutter back, "and thanks." "No problem. If you want anything else just flag me down." She turns around and goes back into the kitchen. I want a whole lot more, I know, but nothing she can give me. Maybe a straw… I'm a sucker for those little things.

Anyway, back to Link. He's got the Master Sword, the Ocarina of Time, what does he NOT have? Well, a slingshot for starters, but they're made usually for kids hands, and trust me, he's no kid. He sure acts like one though. Last time when he asked me when we could meet and I told him no he whined at me for a good half hour. He whines like a mule, or maybe a cat in heat. He's got this really high-pitched voice when he whines. It's scary.

But the one thing about him that puzzles me is that how similar he and I look.

Are we family? Does this link we supposedly share give us some sort of understanding. After all, we look like we could be brothers, but no one even notices, save myself. Link hasn't even managed to put two and two together. Or at least he hasn't mentioned anything to me. I wonder if he's even noticed we look so similar. Then again, I can't say he looks in any mirrors very often.

But he's my friend, al that aside. I'd never harm him. I swear on my own life.

Would the Master Sword know that? Would it know I wouldn't do a thing to him? The Master Sword is still a touchy subject, so I'll just not think about it for now.

Well I've finished about two other Sweet Apple Teas and the sun is beginning to set. I should leave now I guess. I get up (the girl insisted that no bill needed to be paid), and I leave, heading out of Kakariko. I head for the ranch, where he and I were to meet. It's a bit of a walk, so my thoughts begin to wander once more.

Now I'm thinking about what he'll say this time. Will he ask about my family again? Will he tell me more about him? I've seen how he starts conversations, and it's a bit rough when you start but you get into the groove of it eventually. At least he can start a conversation. I'm terrible at starting one. Trust me, I've tried.

And here I am, standing in front of the entrance where I can see his horse a little ways away from me. He's here, I can tell.

So I walk in and I see him in a blue tunic, his hat in his hands, which are behind his back, and he's leaning his right shoulder against the wall with his back turned to me. I walk up beside him, taking off my own hat and stuffing it in my pocket. He doesn't move or anything, he just smiles.

"I thought you wouldn't come. It was starting to get late." "Well I like to make a late appearance." I now notice that the yellow has all but left the sky and a little orange remains. Mostly it's black, blue, and a little purple, with most of the light shining down on us just the stars and the moon.

"A really late appearance." He's not happy today, I can hear it in his voice. "Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" "Something like that," he mumbles. "Someone I knew a long time ago has gone missing in a temple and I'm afraid she might be dead." "Which temple?" "The water temple." I hold back a gasp. My cottage is near that temple. "Um, well, I'm sure that if your friend is strong, they're alive." "Oh she's strong alright," he retorts with a smile, "yes, I guess. She's probably alive."

A sort of mutual silence comes over us, and we simply stare up at the sky.

All of a sudden he speaks up with the strangest question. "I met someone the other day and they told me to 'beware of my dark side'. What do you think it means?" I blink. That's oddly specific. "Maybe you have an anger problem that you don't know about and that you need to control. I have something like that." "Hmm… it was just strange is all." A thought comes to me. "Who was this someone?" "I don't know, he calls himself Sheik, and he's just plain strange if you don't mind me saying so." "If this guy's a Sheikah, than well, they're all strange. Hardly much of what they say makes any sense." "Likewise. He keeps telling me a lot of stuff I don't understand. But I guess innocence is bliss, wouldn't you say?" I scoff. "Bliss? Oh hell yes. Bliss like there's no tomorrow."

Of course I knew all about bliss. For years I didn't know that Ganondorf was not my father and I would've preferred to keep it that way… but now that I think about it, maybe I was told this in my trial for a reason. The shadows I command aren't evil in a sense, they're just of a dark nature. But if handled by a guy like Ganon, the darkness becomes corrupt and simply put, evil.

Link shifts his position, shaking me out of my revere.

"We should meet again soon." "What, you're leaving?" "Yes. I think I know what I have to do now. How about we meet up again soon?"

Well if he has to go, I've got to let him go. Speaking of going, the more I stay here the worse of a beating I'm likely to get. "Then go," I say tiredly, "I think I can be here again in tomorrow. Are you alright with that?" "Sure." He smiles. And I watch him leave with my arms hanging loosely at my side. Then at once I break into a sprint to the castle. I don't want him to know.. I've got to get home… before I'm found out. But then again, what IS home?

.oOo.

**Link's POV- **

He seemed a little distracted tonight. I feel sorry for him. I wonder if whoever he lives with abuses him.. that might be it. Who knows?

I'm at the bar again and Victoria's still working her shift. There are a couple of guys playing a game of poker and one guy has just bid whole lot on this giant pot of money. I turn my head away, not looking at his cards. After awhile I hear a whooping sound. I guess he won.

Another table has a couple sitting in two or three seats pushed together and they're having a make-out session like it's the last one they'll have. Who knows, it just might be.

Then there's this one guy who looks flat out a mess; his good tunic all crumpled and wrinkled and a dazed look on his face. The table beside him has several bottles of whiskey and he has another, half-full, in his hand. My guess is he either lost something or someone close to him or he got laid. Or he could just be a regular drunk.

I'm sitting close to him, listening to his breathing, feeling pretty darn sorry for the guy. My head is my arms and an empty glass a Fairy Whiskey is lying down on its side by my left elbow.

"Hey kid," the drunk wheezes, "you alright?" My head jerks up and I realize who said it. "I could say the same for you." He chuckles a wheezy laugh. "I bet you could."

"May I ask what you're doing here sir?" "Only if you tell me why you are." Sounds fair enough. "I don't really know why I'm here. I just came here to think, I guess…" "Not exactly a proper place to think, is it?" "A friend of mine works here." "The lady with the red hair?" "With red eyes?" I ask. He nods. "That's her." "She came by earlier asking if there was anything she could do for me. I told her just get me the strongest glass of whiskey you got." "And what did she say?"

"She didn't refuse it to me, she simply said, 'Are you sure that you need it?' And I thought it over as best as I could. She was patient, and she waited for my answer for as long as she needed. So I told her to just bring me a regular glass. And she did. I never finished it because I started thinking about what she said halfway through drinking."

"About what?" I was dead curious now.

"She only said, 'Are you sure you need it?' Nothing else. I got to thinking that if she cared about strangers that much, what would she say to a friend?" "Probably the same thing. Victoria's a kind person, but that's because she cares about me. Not as a lover or anything, just a friend." "Well that's a damn good friend you got. That girl's got a soul brighter than any sun. Keep that girl close I tell you." "I will. As long as I can." Silence. And then I speak up again.

"So why are you here?"

"Ah, yes. That. My wife, you see, left me for another man. Said I wasn't good enough for her. And on top of that, I've lost my job. I know where I can get a new one, but she wouldn't listen. So I came here. I ordered my first drink and kept on thinking about how crummy my life was. I ordered my second drink. I started thinking about what I might've done to make her leave. By the time I had finished my fifth bottle, I had thought about everything except the faults she had pointed out to me. I was dead drunk at this point and barely had any thinking ability left."

"What did you do?"

"I stopped drinking for awhile. I started to think about what she said. She said my family was scum, and that was something she was wrong about. My sister has a perfectly nice job cooking for Kakariko's restaurant. My younger brother owns that fishing place down by lake Hylia. My family was great. I wasn't so great though. This was the first thing I realized. I wasn't great at all."

He sighed and then continued with me still listening intently. Now I really pitied the poor guy, but he had more story to tell.

"The second thing she said was that I wasn't a good person, I had taken control of her life. Yes, I did, now that I realized it, and I wasn't proud of that. But I did love her. I just loved her too much. I was too possessive and controlling. The last thing she said was that I had no purpose in life." Now that is just wrong. His _wife_ said that…

"Everyone has a purpose." "Hm?" "Everyone has a purpose, sir, no matter how small." "Yes, I realize that. That got me thinking, it got me thinking about a whole bunch of things. Finally it led me to the conclusion that I had to just get over her but not completely forget about her. I could still wave or say hi on the street, but I had some faults I now needed to fix. It won't be easy, but I'll fix them. Let me tell you something kid, don't let your dark side take over. It will ruin both you and your life. But if you do, and you think hard enough, you can recover. If you love someone kid, make sure that it's the right kind of love."

"What kind?" "The kind you would die for." That struck something right in my heart. I wasn't sure why, but it seemed… _right_. I smiled.

"Thank you sir for talking to me. You made me realize something that I needed just a little help seeing." He smiled. "I hope that whatever I've said has done you good. And thank you for listening. I needed to tell someone." We both exchange smiles and I bow a little at him. I mutter another thank you and I put on my hat and leave.

I never did learn the man's name, but I know that what his wife said is not true. He did have a purpose. He helped me find out what I needed to do. Him and Peter, wherever he is.

.oOo.

Vikki: Took me forever to get to writing this thing and I found out it only took me like three hours to write it, no breaks or nuthin.

Yami Vikki: I've seen you do that only once and I can't remember what story it was to save my life.

Vikki: Oh well. I hope it pleases you people… please review, I need the comments! If you do I'll give you some Dark Link clones! But don't tell anyone you got them from me!


	6. Night's Secrets

Chapter Six: Night's Secrets

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 6

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link, Link, Zelda, and Nintendo are not mine.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

School! Oh, the dreaded school. I have less time to write my beloved ficcies. My poor ficcies… (sniffs) Anyway, it isn't that bad, I have everything I could possibly want in my schedule; choir, yearbook, multimedia, and all those Pre-AP classes… Good Din, I'm a nerd. As a note for ALL of my fics, the production rate for chappies will be even slower. But please, do not lose interest! I have juicy plans for this story, I do, so read, read, read, and review! Still a nerd. I'm just saying, stay with it! More chappies coming in the next few months. Yes, I said months. I'm an eighth grader with Pre AP classes. I have projects galore to do this year. Yay. Note the emphasis on the word _yay_.

**EDIT: **Fixed some grammar and whatnot. Pfft.

.oOo.

Shadow's POV-

The castle stands before me; I know the events that will occur. I frown, trying not to think about it. But will it be worse? Will he not do it at all?

I feel both pessimistic and optimistic at the same time. Is that even possible? I know he's going to beat me anyway and part of me is yelling at me not to go, to simply run away, but I can't. I don't know why but I can't. My feet won't let me.

The moon somehow sweeps away the clouds that cover this place, and the red glow of the lava dims. It seems as if they pity me, and they want to comfort me as much as possible. How I wish it were so. Nothing can comfort me now.

My heart is beating against my chest slowly as a soft, warm wind blows my hair forward. The hem of my tunic blows with it, going back and forth, back and forth. I stare at the black turrets sadly, my eyes gaunt and soulless. The black flags on them blow not in the wind even though they should, and my heart beats even harder against my chest with anxiety.

My feet are shaking, no, scratch that, my whole BODY is shaking. Inside, I feel hot, like my insides have turned to boiling mush. It is like this every time now, and something tells me it will only get worse.

The wind now mingles with the dirt at my feet, blowing around my boots in spirals. My eyes don't watch it, but it calms the frantic beating of my heart a little. The tallest tower is just beyond my sight, but I know that is where he sleeps… the black tower.

Why am I telling you this? To draw out my dilemma, to explain to you my plight? Plight? Phffbt. What plight? This is my life. It wasn't always like this I tell you, granted then I was never allowed to set foot outside the castle. Then I was the good little boy, the one daddy loved and cherished.

I remember long ago he would pick me up and throw me in the air, laughing. He used to take both my hands and spin me round and round. We would have tickle fights and running contests and staring battles using only one eye, dozens of things that I can still remember but are existent only in my memory. What happened to the man I knew? Was it something I did? Or was it… Link?

The one who foiled his plans for both the forest and now the fire temple, Link. Yes, he was it. It did not really affect him until recently, but Link… he's my other half and my best friend. I will not let myself betray him. But sooner or later, he will find out. I can't let Ganon know.

Here I stand, slightly more confidant, but yet still so terrified.

It hurts… it hurts still. That first day, the day of my trial; I punched him. And he reacted.

Badly.

The cuts from his gauntlets are gone now, but he no longer uses those. He takes his whip, his rose thorn whip, and beats me. Senseless…

The moon still shines, the lava is still dimmed, and I'm still standing here, basking in it. Whatever I have done, whatever I did, dear Din let me right it, so I can at least live.

Step, by step, by shaky, slippery step, I walk across a rainbow bridge and into Ganon's Tower.

.oOo.

You know what Beamos are, right? They're like survey statues that have these weird, big, freaky-looking eyes and only their head moves. As a plus (for whoever they're guarding, not for the person sneaking in), they double as lasers. Wonderful. Well, Ganon has two of them guarding the entrance hallway to his castle and I had to sneak by them. Lucky for me, they were asleep today. As I crept by them with care, I could have _sworn_ I heard my feet go _tip tap, tip tap_. My luck was good so far.

CRASH!

Okay, maybe not. Ooh, a rupee. I tripped over a pot, apparently breaking it in the process. If Ganon finds out before it regenerates, he's going to have _another_ excuse on why he's going to beat me tonight. It doesn't matter if he catches me or not, he does it anyway. Sometimes I think he forgets that I was his son once upon a time. Wait, scratch that, he already has.

My steps take me further into the darkness, my hand following the path of wall I have followed several times now. My room is still far away; I do not have the hope that I will reach it in time. The servants are asleep, so are my grandmothers, so Kotake can't save me now…

The torches light magically as I walk by them… not a good sign.

The torches are magic sensors. If a person with any kind of magic; light, dark, elemental, whatever, they light up. I know that this will only decrease my chances of making it to my room tonight, but I need to follow this wall path if I'm to make it. Even though my shadow powers help me see in the dark and my senses are sharper, I do not have the strength or enough power to know my way or see with complete clearness in the dark to find it.

My memory guides me a little, my feet stumbling softly in the silence. Every so often I stop to listen for breathing other than mine or a foreign aura or essence. So far I have sensed only the essences of some servants. If I'm still in the servants' quarters I have a long way to go yet. While my ice-cold hands numbly cling to the wall, I try to feel for corners or secret passages that I might stumble upon.

The walls are cold in some places, and warm and tingly in others. Near the warm spots I can sense stronger essences, and on occasion, light or dark magic. Why, I don't know. Maybe it's a reaction between the castle itself and the magic of the auras or essences. Who knows?

I've stopped, leaning on the wall and sliding down against it to rest. There's this crick in my neck that won't go away; it usually does this when something bad is going to happen. The shadows are asking me if they should protect me, and inside my heart is pleading my brain to tell my mouth yes but I know I can't hide behind them forever. No, I tell them, and simply that.

Something tingles my senses. I can feel some light magic coming from under a door to my right. It's faint, and carries a familiar feel. I can smell incensed candles mixed a touch of cinnamon. I must be near Arthur's room, it's full of those candles. And a picture of him, his deceased wife, his daughter and son. It's a painted picture; small but very detailed. He got it framed, and the little girl looks just like his wife but with his bright red hair. His aura, if you could call it that, is waxing and waning slowly. He's probably sleeping.

So he can't save me either.

I get up, not bothering to dust myself off, and make my way to a corner.

I know this corner well because this is where the servants' quarters end and the maze of intricate traps and hallways begins. If I'm to make it to my room in time for tonight, there's a crucial secret passage I must find. So I aim to find it, in the dark, alone.

It's low to the ground, so I've got to crawl from here. The dirty stone floor has calloused my hands from the many times I've done this.

How many times have I done this? Ten? Fifteen? If anyone does know, I doubt that I'll live to hear them tell me. Good Din I am cynical. How can I be sarcastic at a time like this? Okay… back to me. I'm in a hallway, on my hands and knees, just being very still, all the while my brain keeps shouting, _"Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving!"_ I need help. No, I'm serious, I think my legs have locked up. Ah, nope, never mind. I'm okay.

This is where I can simply go from memory. You would assume that it's easy if you know it by memory but listen to this: I have crawl two hallway spaces straight from here, take a left and crawl one, then take a right and feel against the bottom right side of that hallway. If I can do that, I just might be able to make it tonight. Yeah, real easy.

And so I crawl, letting my mind wander.

I think about what he might do if he finds me… or if he doesn't, what he'll do later. I know his traditional beating by heart now. It starts out with three strikes to my ribs with his hands and another to my face. Afterwards he pins me down and ties me up. And then he beats me with his whip.

This whip is no leather whip either. It's a poison tipped, rose thorn whip. As wonderful as it sounds, feeling it against your skin isn't as wonderful.

I also remember the first time he used it.

"_Where have you been, boy?" he yells. I can't tell him. I won't._

_I shake my head violently as fear fills my eyes like a flood. His eyes meet mine with red-hot ferocity, and he towers above my half-crouched figure. My mouth can say no words so it can't squeal in fright. Frankly, I don't know whether I should be happy or scared that it can't. _

_Punching my cheek for the third time tonight, he picks me up by my collar._

"_You had better tell me boy… you won't like it if you don't…" Tears softly flow down my eyes. My lip quivers and he scoffs. "I know what you are. Too soft, boy. Way too soft. I'll teach you to toughen up._

_Is he going to let me go? Ha, I wish._

_He slams me against the cold floor of his organ room. He slams himself down on top of me, and I inhale his hot breath. It smells not of liquor, wine, or brandy, but simply of the roast beef we had for dinner. I'd gulp if I could. He's not drunk… in fact, I think he's completely sane… no…_

_Inside I'm sobbing and yelling, "DIN! FARORE! NAYRU! HELP ME! Please… help me!" but I know there's no one listening. I beat back at him with a relentless fury so hard it startles even me. But even though I'm biting my hardest, clawing everywhere there is flesh, and beating with a seemingly endless anger on the man I once called father, it has no effect. _

_He punches my ribs another time and commands strands of shadows to bind me to the floor. My arms can't move, and I'm flat on my stomach. Only now do I realize my shirt is gone. I see now, out of the corner of my eye, ripped and torn almost to shreds, my shirt. _

_He walks in front of my vision, holding a roll of what appears to be black twine. By now my face is tear-streaked and puffy as well as violently red from my anguish. Glaring and snarling furiously he says, "You will learn this lesson, boy." He strokes the roll like a cat and it makes me shiver. "This is a whip, and it will be your teacher," he snarls with such sarcastic loathing it not only makes me shiver but shudder as well, "you better learn what it teaches you boy, or else." And he said no more._

_He stepped out of my range of vision and stopped behind me sharply, his boots squeaking and clanging against the marble floor. I look at my reflection as best I can and notice that my nose is bloody, possibly broken, and there is a long cut on the left side of my face. Yet I'm in so much emotional pain I can't feel anything… until I hear a swish behind me._

"_AHH!" More tears flow from my eyes as I scream bloody murder from the pain of it, the force of the whip and the thorns that I now know are on it. And it stings… BADLY. It stings like the bloody seven hells combined in a nutshell the size of a gnat. I whimper and whine, but Ganon's not yet done, as another swish begins, and more torment with it._

_Again, and again I hear a swish and again and again I curse and yell in pain. For how long this went on I don't recall, but at some point I had given up._

_And then it stopped._

_I had no strength to lift my head and my body is wracked with thousands of spasms of pain. Blood is beading down my back sideways, but my nose has managed to stop bleeding. I can still taste the blood from the cut on the left side of my face, yet I still cannot feel it. _

_I can hear Ganon muttering to someone. It's very faint and I'm now delirious, but I can make it out._

"_Take him to his room." Silence._

"_Why are you still standing there? Take him!" The footsteps that follow are rushed with fear and I feel the shadows that held me down recede. Slowly, and carefully, strong, caring arms pick me up, and whisk me away. _

_And just before I lose consciousness, I hear a familiar voice whisper, "It's alright. I'll take care of you…" and it all went black._

Yes, it was that terrible. It's been worse though. That night he only beat me about ten times. Now he beats me at around thirty or more and not just on my back. I have scars on my legs that are just barely healing. It's torture of the worst kind… and I know that I'm in for even worse tonight if he catches me.

I never did learn whom he had ordered to take me to my room… I was so delirious that night that I passed out. But before I did, I could have _sworn _I heard Arthur's voice. Maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me and I didn't hear anything at all… but the person also picked me up in kindest and softest of ways… sometimes I can feel those same arms picking me up after a nightly beating, carrying me away.

Anyway, I've turned the corner again, reaching the desired hallway.

I stand up, or try to, but fail at first try. I try again and my legs are shaking. I sit down again, holding my head in my hands. Thinking about that day has made me nervous and shivering. My whole body is shaking horribly and it seems as if they won't stop.

Slowly, I get up, and the shaking has ebbed somewhat.

I don't know what that was, but I really was scared… why that happened… well, I don't know, but I knew I was dead scared. Sometimes what my body does makes me wonder… sometimes what my brain thinks makes me wonder too.

Suddenly I hear the sound of stone rubbing against stone. I hear a soft CLUNK follow it, and I know I've found the passage. I smile, my heart leaping with joy, but that joy is quickly extinguished by a knowing that a beating will follow anyway. I close my eyes, though tears still push on through.

Once more does wind make the dirt around my feet swirl in circles around me as it whispers a soft lullaby to my heart. A faint rustle of feathers reverberates in my ears, but it soon leaves, taking with it the comforting feeling I had before. Sighing, I looked sadly down the passage I was to go through. A light flashed in my eyes for one second, though only for a second, and I felt compelled to trudge on, no matter the consequences.

And so I did.

Step by step I walked, my soft footsteps echoing in the passage. I walked in the dark, but I walked with a confidence, and I walked in the hope that I would make it through this night alive. The same light flashed in my eyes again, and I found myself at the end of it, only a hallway away from my door.

But I did not smile. Something wasn't right.

I tiptoed to my door, and placed my hand on the knob. A dark aura was throbbing from it. It was an aura I knew very well.

My breathing became hitched and rapid as my heart instantly beat faster. I could feel phantom pain from previous whippings attack me relentlessly. I let go of the knob to hold my head to keep it from tossing back and forth. I was in a state of panic, and what's worse, the door opened.

I looked up, my eyes wide with fear, and there he was.

Glaring with such an intensity that burned my eyes he stared. His breathing was more like seething mixed with a low, throaty growl.

I found that my voice had not yet abandoned me because I was backing up and saying over and over, "No, no, no, don't, no" many times. There was no room for coherent thought, so speech was nothing more than a jumble. The phantom pain was haunting me with a vengeance, so my face had a pained expression plastered to it as well.

Ganondorf stepped forward each time I backed up, standing so still yet seething and growling like he had been when he opened the door. My back was now to the wall, and I was panicking like there was no tomorrow. By now my voice had finally left me, and my feet were frozen in fear.

And then he asked the question: "Where have you been boy?"

My teeth gritted against themselves. No… not that question. His scowl deepened and he asked again. "Where have you been boy?" My eyes, wide with fear, told him nothing. The same was said for my face. My mouth was agape, and it was pale with fright and fear. A tiger light flashed in Ganon's eyes as he grabbed my by the collar.

He threw me behind him like a ball, as if I were nothing. I went through my door and SMACK across the hard stone but somehow remained conscious. I tumbled off my bed and onto the floor, and I tried to get up but Ganon did it for me.

"Tell me! Where have you been since dinner? Hmm?" I had no tears going across my face this time, but the remnants were there. I was lucky he could not see them, but at the same time, not so lucky.

"WHERE WERE YOU BOY!"

Once more he threw me against the wall like a ball, and I tumbled onto my table and then down onto the floor again. He punched me twice in my ribs, once on my nose, which bled again, and then kicked my nose, stomach, and nuts. Twice.

Now my eyes were wide with pain, so much pain it stung. He kept kicking me and kicking me it seemed there was no end.

"Tell me!" he yelled, "Tell me now boy!"

But I did not. In a fury of anger he picked me up and threw me against he wall but still held me with one hand. He beat against my chest with his hands, _hard_, as well as slaps and kicks on my lower body.

The pain seemed continuous now, and I had no strength to defend myself with. Already could I feel bruises forming on top of old ones and new ones forming on new, new bruises. He kept yelling at me to tell him what I had done and where I had been but I had no strength to tell him. The pain was intoxicating but I was not yet delirious… no, not quite.

More and more punches kept flowing but then all of a sudden they stopped. I opened my eyes slowly, but the peace was momentary. He grabbed my shoulders and threw me on the stone floor. Once more he towered over me, and once more he yelled at me his question.

"Where, have, you BEEN!" But I still did not answer.

Once more did the shadows take hold of me, chaining my hands but not my feet together. They then took hold of me and hung me by the ceiling, but low enough so that the floor was only a few inches from my feet.

I did not see him get out his whip, but I heard a loud SWISH and then pain. I screamed bloody murder again because he had taken my shirt off in the process and the poison was attacking my flesh. SWISH! SWISH! Two more times on my back.

I screamed more, tears of pain flying from my eyes. "Noooo, stop! It ahhhhh huuurttts!" "It's supposed to hurt, you ungrateful little twit!"

The words, as hurtful as they were, bounced off me. As the pain became less and less bearable, I began to say things that I didn't know I was saying.

Then, as Ganon asked me his question one final time, he brought the whip across my chest and down my lower middle. At that point, I had no resistance and I screamed. I wanted help, I wanted comfort; I wanted Link.

"HELP ME!" I screamed. "No one's going to help you now boy!" And he slashed again, in the same place. The pain had completely become unbearable, and I was at my breaking point. I had lost all communication with my brain and everything was going haywire inside me and so I yelled as loud as I possibly could:

"LINK, HELP ME!"

And silence. Out of shock, the shadows let me go, and more silence flooded the room. The shadows moved to put me in my bed or at least comfort me but Ganon barked, "Leave him where he is. I can't believe what he's done. Trying to become friends with the enemy, ha! What was he thinking?"

I was thinking along his lines right now. What was I thinking making friends with him? No, I did it because he is my hikari, and my best friend… but that wasn't enough… and now he's in for it because of my mistake.

I've been found out. My cover's blown. I tried my best, but unfortunately, my best wasn't enough.

.oOo.

Reader's POV-

Sunlight was flooding the hallways of the castle, something rare and hardly seen anymore. Arthur, the servant had heard the cries of pain last night, but from whom he knew not. Deciding to make something special for Shadow, he brewed up some hot tea with cakes. Picking up the tray, he started for his room.

He knew of Shadow's 'little problem' with Ganon. He was abusing the boy, physically. And pretty badly. If he was right, then the screams he heard last night were Shadow's. They had sounded so painful…

Arriving at the door, he could see footprints coming from the secret passage to the room down the hall and then some leaving the room the opposite way. Something HAD happened last night, so Arthur prepared himself for the worst. He took hold of the knob, turned, and pushed.

What he saw was nothing like he had ever seen before. He nearly dropped the tray.

The boy lay on the floor, face still tear-streaked, on his right side. One arm was over his head, the other around his chest. His chest had several bruises in so many different places it was hard to count them all. The lower half of his tunic was still on him, but ripped slightly in many places. It was particularly ripped in the crotch, and reeked of blood. The fact, the boy himself reeked of the red liquid. It went down it streaks across his back and chest, and his nose had been bleeding severely but seemed to have stopped.

The boy looked almost transparent from the loss of so much blood, and it shot pity through his heart the way the boy looked. So he closed the door, set the tray down on the table, and felt under the bed for the kit he kept under it. It was a small black box with a blue potion, two green potions, three red potions, a boatload of gauze, some towels and a bottle of water inside.

Arthur took the bottle of water and dipped a towel in it. He began to wipe away some of the dried blood off carefully and slowly, so as not to wake up the boy. But he did.

.oOo.

Shadow's POV-

Something had dabbed at a tender wound and it woke me. I opened my eyes to find Arthur tending to my wounds. I stirred a little, startling him.

I stared at him, bleary-eyed and sore. My eyes, surprisingly, were clear, not bloodshot. "Arthur?" I whispered hoarsely. He nodded, his eyes filled with a deep sadness. He dips a towel in the water and holds my chin in one hand. He then dabs it at the dried blood on my face from when my nose had started bleeding. Thankfully, it wasn't broken. I blush a little, out of the closeness we shared.

When my face was clear, he dipped the towel in the water again, this time, the whole cloth. He looked up. "Can you sit up for me?" I nod meekly but say nothing, as I still don't have the strength to say much. Sitting up makes me lightheaded, so I lie back down, my back where he can reach it.

"He really did a number on you this time didn't he?" says Arthur. I nod, crying softly. He rubs my back with the wet cloth. "Shh," he croons, "it's okay." "N-no," I mutter back softly, "it's n-not." He sighs, but I can't tell if his expression has changed or not.

Silence reigns for a while and I'm content to lay with him rubbing my back with the wet cloth. Out of the corner of my eye I can see him dabbing it in red potion and then I feel him rubbing it on my back in circles. The effect is almost instantaneous. Most of the scars have healed, but some haven't. He then takes my leggings and peels them off slowly, letting air onto some of the more fresh wounds. It stings a little, with tears coming into my eyes. They don't fall, but they're there.

I whine a little. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" "N-no. They j-just s-sting." Once again he dips the cloth in water and cleans the wounds. He applies more of the red potion to it and all the cuts heal except the bruises. The bruises… I have so many. Most are on my chest and back, and I have one on my right cheek, but they're everywhere…

"Can you lay on your back for me?" His voice startles me and I jump a little. He chuckles. "Did I scare you?" "No," I reply for the third time, "just startled me is all." I do as I'm asked and lay on my back.

He looks at me as I'm staring off into space, thinking about nothing. "What are you thinking about?" I turn my head. "Huh?" "What are you thinking about?" I sigh softly because if I don't I'll hurt more than I do now. "I said something, yelled it more like, before I passed out. I said, 'Link help me'. He stopped beating me, but now he knows… he knows about Link. He's going to use me to kill him I just know it!"

I'm sitting up now, tears falling down my eyes at last at a record pace with my hands balled up into fists of frustration. My chest hurts as I breathe, making it difficult to do so.

Arthur puts a hand on my shoulder. "You'll pull through. You're strong; you just need to be stronger. Face your fears, and hope for the best." His smile is soft and wise. "Now, let me finish doing the rest of these wounds so I can get you dressed in clean clothes and get some breakfast in you, alright?" He tossed me what was left of the red potion. "Drink that. It'll help heal some of the bruises."

As he finished dressing the other wounds, I thought about what he said.

I was strong, but I needed to become stronger? Did that mean that I had to let the shadows help me fight instead of fighting on my own? Or did it mean something else? Something just beyond my grasp but was almost there and I almost had it. And face my fears? That was something I could not do. Ganon is so intimidating up close. At a glance he's not much, but when he's right next to you breathing down on you he's more than intimidating, he's- he's… a killer. He might've killed me last night if I hadn't shouted what I did.

And speaking of that…

Link, where is he now? I'm supposed to see him today at Lon Lon Ranch. What if, before then, Ganon gets to me and places as spell on me that _forces_ me to kill him? Gods I hope that doesn't happen. And speaking of them, they answered half my prayer. They let me live. But for how long?

"I'm done now. Here, let me help you up." I'm not startled this time, but my head jerks a little. I take his outstretched hand gratefully and slowly stand up so as not to become lightheaded.

He sits me down on my bed; so soft it is under my rough hands. He goes to my closet and tosses me some clean clothes.

"Put those on, I need to add something to your tea now to warm it up again."

He closes the door and fetches something for the little black kit, which he closes and shoves back under the bed. I put everything on, though carefully, so as not to aggravate any still-open cuts or extra sensitive bruises. The tunic is a light blue, embroidered with what looks like diamonds. I remember this one… Kotake made it for me when I was little as a present for my wedding day. Well, this is no wedding day, and I am certain I won't be a groom for anything. Not even if I asked _dirt itself_ to marry me I doubt that it would.

The leggings are white like the ones Link wears… keep thoughts off Link, keep thoughts off Link… ahh… much better.

My bright blond bangs hang loosely on my forehead and they have a slight pink tinge to them. I'm not as pale as I was a few minutes ago and I'm much warmer. Speaking of warm, Arthur brings me the plate of tea and cakes.

"Here you go," he says, "I'm sure that will make it much better." I sip the tea for a while as he sits in his chair by the wardrobe. I look up as he yawns. "You don't have to stay here, you know. I can't hide behind you. Besides," I pause, "I care about you too much."

Dear Din, did I actually say that? Great gods I don't know who I am at all anymore…

"If you wish for me to leave I will." He gets up and walks to the door. He starts to walk out and then stops. He turns around for a second and says to me as he winks, "Remember boy, courage. Have courage." And he leaves, closing the door behind him.

I blink. Have courage… huh. I think I'm beginning to understand the man now. He's not like the other servants. He speaks differently, like a wise king that has seen many battles. Maybe I'll never understand him. He did used to be the Shiekah's leader. Whatever the case, he's made me feel like being found out isn't exactly a bad thing.

.oOo.

Vikki: Action! You asked for it Mike!

Yami Vikki: Poor, poor Shadow…I pity him.

Vikki: As should the rest of you. Now, go, review! And if you want, reread the chapter.


	7. Realizations

Chapter Seven: Realizations

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 7

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link, Link, Zelda, and Nintendo are not mine.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

I am alive! Thank Din, I'm finally updating, I hit a roadblock on every single story so I was playing Phantom Hourglass and Twilight Princess nonstop. The thing is, this is in the OoT period! Praise Nayru I am dense, and with my own story no less! But anyway, once the holidays roll around again, I'll be updating more. As of right now, my time to work on stories is short. Who knew eighth grade was so demanding? Oh well, maybe for Christmas you guys can send me some inspiration. ^_^;

.oOo.

?'s POV-

I don't believe it. He may be disobedient, but this… this is crossing the line.

Making friends with the enemy I can understand, that can sometimes be used to one's advantage, but this is something entirely different. I don't believe it… I don't know what to believe anymore. That blasted boy. He's the cause of it all. If I hadn't taken _him_ instead, none of this would be happening.

But then again…

Would he have stayed as long as _he_ did, and it's a wonder he still dares to stay here, or would he have run away at the first chance he got? It doesn't matter now though, none of it matters.

I'm still going to win.

All the pieces of my little game are set, ready to take out the single remaining pawn that protects the king from his demise. Or rather, the queen, if you wanted to put it in literal terms.

My first defenses were, I must admit, pitiful. A mirror image of me? What was I thinking then? I must have been absolutely bored out of my mind for such an idea to come to me. Knowing me I probably was. That defense, though my idea, and a dreadful one at that, was put up by him.

Why hadn't he thought to improve anything? Sometimes I wonder what made him drift away from me… he used to love me. Well, sort of.

Though the one after that wasn't as bad. I myself carried it out, but still, it could have been better. An ill-tempered lava dragon set upon its one and only prey like a master setting a cat on some mice. How I took great joy in knowing that my enemy had backed down from a fight. I had thought the pawn was done for, but nay, it came back like that persistent fly that won't leave you alone.

And he brought help. That whelp, that child… she should have died! The dragon… it- it dragged her into the lava, by accident from what I could tell, but she should've… unless she was a sorceress. Then it makes all the difference. So there is something that woman, the one that restricted his true powers, didn't see: this.

But, who is she, this girl? She seemed to have done it by accident, whatever spell she cast, so how did she survive? I've wracked my brain for answers, but none come, not one.

I suppose, with this, I must wait for a while longer. And as for that dragon, it no longer listens to me. The boy didn't kill it, though I wish he had. At her request I suppose; she did look like the type to ask such a thing. Now I fear it a little, but I have this most pressing matter to attend to; Shadow.

He's grown too wild he has, so I can no longer let him try and help these pests. I may have passed these little trips outside as a need to get some air for sometime, but now, no more. I must have control!

There's just one more thing I have to do.

And I know the perfect way to do it.

.oOo.

Shadow's POV-

I am afraid.

A day has passed since that night, a day I spent entirely outside of the castle, in my little shack, in something that resembled some sort of huddled mass.

I practically ran out of the castle as soon as Arthur was out of sight, the heels of my boots slamming against the stone at a record pace. Past every door, the kitchens, bathrooms… all a blur to my eyes. And, though I prayed frantically that this blur was the last thing I'd ever see of the castle, something told me I was wrong. I could feel his wrath through the earth, searching, and seething.

I could feel it even deep under Lake Hylia.

I was jittery, my mistakes were somewhat obvious, but I was lucky.

You see, to take my mind off the recent past events, I had gone to help Link with his Water Temple dilemma. He had not noticed my mistakes. If he had, he ignored them, though whether out of pity or concern I'll never know.

And then there was me, acting on who knows what, as my emotions were fried and my brain was just trying to keep my body alive, such shame I say to myself now, such shame for going with raw emotions, barely enough thought… and maybe, maybe that's what led our little… well… encounter, if you will.

Encounter.

Right.

It was just one, but so delectable, and so… delicious, mouth-watering…

What is this? Why do I feel this now of all times? I can't love him, much less like him; there's just too much at stake! He… is not… mine! And he never will be!

Goddesses… I was so stupid to think otherwise.

I left him at the shore after he collapsed from the shock of it, and he only now just got up. How can I tell? I watch him now from the window of my shack-like refuge, seeing him put a hand to his face and wonder if it was all a dream. How long have I been here? I don't know. It was almost dawn when we surfaced. Or rather, when I surfaced, carrying the unconscious Link over my shoulder.

It was just a kiss. Just one.

It was deep, passionate, and I loved every minute of it. I don't remember much during the kiss, only that I wanted so much more. My heart seemed to lust for something so unreal, like something I used to have long ago. Something distant…

But anyway, I told myself it was a bad idea, but I wouldn't listen. I did it anyway. Now look at what's happened. If he does remember the kiss he's going to demand an explanation. I'm sorry to say, that I have none to give. What a mess I've dragged myself into. And this all started because of that vision. That blasted vision.

My light within. I haven't thought of that vision for weeks. I've been only thinking hikari this, hikari that, anything that had to do with the word hikari.

You wonder, I can tell, why I turned down any possible love from my hikari? You know, that since they, usually though not always, end up loving the other, that Link might return my feelings? I doubt it. He talks about Princess Zelda too much.

And, then again, there is that girl…

At first, I knew her as no one, and then she agreed to let me take her someplace special. This was only a day or two before yesterday, at Lon Lon Ranch.

"_So Peter, are you interested in my proposition?" "I don't know… sounds a bit… dangerous…" The truth was, I didn't really know if he should. It was dangerous for me to go into one of those temples now, with all of them on full alert for any signs of Link. My secret could be revealed. And that was a mistake I couldn't make._

"_If you don't want to come that's fine. I just want a little help for once." _

_I paused a second before speaking up again. Maybe that friend of his he told me about. Victoria. "What about your friend? You said she was capable of helping you." Link looked at me, shaking his head. It was obvious I had said something wrong. "I said she helped heal me whenever I need it, not that she knew how to fight. Even if she did…" He looked down, and up, then down again. Then he muttered something about the Water Temple. _

_Even worse. The Water Temple! Too close to home I felt, no I couldn't. But… then again, my hikari needed to do this. And I __did__ want to see Ganon go down._

_I tried to put a hand on his shoulder but he shook it off and pushed it away. He turned his back to me, walking away without a word. Link… no, come back!_

_I put my hand up to ask him to come back, but my voice seemed to have abandoned me._

_Link mounted his horse and began to exit the ranch. I couldn't see it, but I knew deep inside his azure blue eyes were filled with unshed tears. I saw his shoulders shudder slightly and the twisting inside my heart increased greatly. They broke free I suppose. Link however, looked back at something hidden in the bushes as he passed and he said, "Would you help?" _

_Silence. The twisting softened slightly. I half expected him to look back, but he never did. He just left the corral, collecting his belongings as he went._

_I looked down at my feet, hurt and unsure. Link wasn't usually like this. This girl he talked about often, Zelda, was the one he was supposedly trying to save. 'If Zelda is his target, why should she be mine?' I began to walk along the path to the entrance to hitch my horse and go home._

_All at once, there was a flash of something red and furry. I spotted movement and saw something. It was a girl, sitting behind a dead bush. I raised an eyebrow at her, not sure why she was hiding. Finally I called out, "Hey, you!"_

_She visibly froze. _

_Slowly, she came out of her hiding place, her eyes looking down and her hands behind her back. _

"_Hh… hi… hi…"It was all she could stammer. _

_Wait… this was the girl from the bar! So fate had led them to meet. His head reeling with questions, he leaned against the side of the ranch house with one leg up against the wall. "Same to you," I said. _

_She looked up, into my eyes, looking like she was drowning them. She smiled weakly and I smiled back. Her eyes darted to my sky blue tunic. I caught her looking at it and said with a quickly made-up lie, "My grandfather gave it to me for my seventeenth birthday. By the way, my name's Peter. What's yours?" She perked up at the question. "Victoria. Pleasure to meet you." She smiled again. She was such a shy little thing when not in her bar. She probably didn't get out much other than to work. Beginning to get a bit bolder, she spoke up again. _

"_Your eyes are pretty." She recoiled slightly. Not to mention a bit visibly. I laughed a little and closed my eyes. I opened them again to speak. "As are yours Miss Victoria."_

_And truly, they were. Just like rubies. With the setting sun's light, their sparkle rivaled the stained glass in the Temple of Time._

_She blushed a deep scarlet and blinked once or twice. It was almost as if her beauty alone had cast a spell and enraptured me, she was so beautiful. _

_Trying to make conversation, I looked at her in her eyes and asked a question, rather sarcastically, to make it light and to coax her to be less shy. "What's a pretty woman like yourself doing at this ranch?" I waited for a response but all I got was a half shrug and a stare. _

_She really was shy around me. Maybe she felt the same way I did. _

_Still, frustration made me rub the spot in between my eyes with two fingers. _

_I could hear soft and uncertain footsteps on the dirt and grass, not sure what to think or do. Was she trying to say something? I opened my eyes to find out._

_When I opened my eyes I didn't see her on the wall of the stable. I looked to my right, but I didn't see her. Then I looked to my left. _

_There she was, with her eyes looking at me like a dog would its master. He hair flipped up when it came across her shoulders, and her hands were behind her back. She seemed a bit braver now, but I wondered who this girl was. Something about her was familiar. It was almost as if I had seen her somewhere else, other than Kakariko's bar. _

_But I could tell she wanted something, something she was still afraid to voice. I smiled and chuckled a little. _

"_Do you want to see me again?" Her eyes lit up at the question. "Yes! I, um, I mean I would like to." She chuckled a little bit before blushing madly again. I pushed the hair that concealed her face so I could look into her eyes once more. "Meet me here at noon in two days. The place I want you to see is a secret."_

_I winked at her and left, calling my horse as I did so, leaving her to stand there staring into space. I was just hoping that maybe, if my hikari didn't think the way I did, maybe, just maybe, I could still have somebody… to love._

She really is a gentle soul, and almost fragile in a way. I don't know what to think now. But I was right at that time about one thing, if Link doesn't feel the same way, maybe she will, even if I did kiss him.

Link's gone now, and noon is almost here.

It's been two days since then, and I don't break promises. Maybe I can get to know her a little better too. But just in case, it has to be a secret. A blindfold, perhaps. I can't take any chances.

Yes, I should go soon.

In fact, I'll go right now. A man should never keep a lady waiting.

Excitement runs through my blood as I snatch a piece of black cloth off the dresser and run out the door. I'll just forget about Ganon for a bit, put that kiss behind me. I deserve a little fun right now. I deserve a break.

So now I'm running, or rather, my horse is, but nonetheless I'm going. I only just remember now that I've forgotten to eat, but I can do that later. For now, just for now, I can forget my worries. I can realize that I can.

.oOo.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially Mike, whose review I anxiously await once more, and here's your reward for reviewing: life sized Link plushies!

(whispers)

But tell no one you got them from me!


	8. Time Lapse: Water Temple

**Chapter Eight**: Time Lapse: Water Temple

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 8

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link, Link, Zelda, and Nintendo are not mine.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

I decided, since I was a little vague on Link and Shadow's supposed kiss, well, this was suppose to bed your Christmas present and give you a semi-heavy detailed run through from the beginning of the Water Temple to just before the room where you battle Dark Link in the game but my beta-reader was late in getting it back to me. Still, here you are.

Hope you like, and don't forget to review. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a happy new year.

**EDIT: **Minor fix-its and whatnot. Carry on.

.oOo.

**Link's POV**-

He's late.

But then again, he always is. Fashionably late he calls it. I just call it late.

I'm sitting on the dock by the water, looking at the little island that conceals the top of the Water Temple. My tunic is blue today, unlike my usual green, and my iron boots sit beside me; as do my leggings, my bare feet immersed in the water. I smile a little. It feels good.

Cold and wet, but good.

Sometimes, I wonder, because I've never seen the sea, what it's like, what it's like to have the water rush over you in one big whoosh, with soapy foam and smell the salt in the air… and then, and then… Then there's the soft waves, when you lay next to someone or most often times, just yourself, and the waves just roll up to you and gently kiss your side or your feet softly, like the kisses in the tales mothers tell their children.

Like the ones Saria used to tell me.

It was never a problem for me that I never had a mother, I had just thought I truly was part of them, the Kokiri. But as the years went by, and no fairy came to my side, well, I was a child, and it worried me to no end.

Navi saved me form going mad, or well, as mad as I could get at the age I was. Even though I'm still young, I was really young then, and all I had were Saria and my courage. Navi is sitting on my shoulder right now, her little white body stiff and unsure. She's like this often now. I suppose it's because of all the evil in the air. She can take it for now, but I wonder how she'll be able to handle it as we get deeper and deeper into this.

What I'm trying to say, without seeming like I'm going insane or trying to drag time just so I can talk myself into things, is that I worry about her. Saria taught me kindness, but Navi's taught me worry. Not personal or physical worry, but more of a love worry. But not quite _that_ kind of love.

And love… I still don't know what it is quite yet.

I feel things for people, strong feelings, but for more than one person. I spoke with Navi about it, and she says it's probably just puberty catching up with me. She didn't ask _who_ the people were, she just gave me an explanation. Yeah, that's Navi for you.

I even asked Victoria, but only once, and she didn't really know.

"_I don't know Link," _was what she told me, _"but tell me, before we go on, what do you feel for me?"_

And she stopped me then, putting her hand on my chest with a strange, implacable look on her face.

I do know what I feel for her, but it's not love. Definitely not.

"_You're my friend," _I told her, _"but a friend and a friend alone. Can't you tell?" _She had nodded then I remember, and then she gave me a soft smile. _"Yeah," _she had whispered back, _"you're right."_

And I was. Victoria really is nothing more than a friend to me.

But the there's Zelda and Peter… for one thing, before I even begin to ask the question of my gender preferences, how do I choose? How do I tell if one is more friendly than "friendly"?

Something jerks me from my thoughts, a sort of crunching sound. I whip around, and see Peter standing behind me. I smile a little.

"I thought you weren't coming." The smile fades. Something's not right.

He looks up. I don't see anything new, except a cut and a bruise. They're obviously not fresh, but the bruise certainly looks like it hurts. I make to mention the bruise, but realize he won't talk about it. So instead I smile again, hoping to comfort him.

"How about we get started? I know you didn't want to do this, but you came anyway. We should get it started as soon as possible shouldn't we?" He smiles a little and then nods, but he still hasn't said anything. I notice one thing now; that he also has a blue tunic on, with the same shimmery surface mine has. A Zora tunic.

But the iron boots are one of a kind…

"Do you need to hang onto me when we go down?" "What?" He looks at me like I'm impaired.

"Do you need to hang onto me?" I say again, putting more expression into my face. "You don't have Iron Boots, so I'm not quite sure how…" My voice trails off as a vision of his arms around my waist takes hold of my innocent imagination.

Then the thought leads to blushing. I look up. Din, he's staring. Damn! He saw! Damn!

I grab two parts of my hair in my fists in both frustration and embarrassment.

He laughs, lightly. "Having trouble?"

I look up, glaring. I don't say it, but he knows I'm thinking, _"You think?"_

He laughs a little more, softer than before and looks past me by the docks. He seems to think about something that makes him smile devilishly a bit, but part of him doesn't. His eyes go crazy and start looking in different directions.

"Erm…" he begins, or rather, not sure how to begin, "well you might want to put your leggings back on."

Huh? I look down. Shit! My leggings!

I run, holding the bottom fabric of my Zora tunic. I can hear him sniggering a little, but not as hard as I know he wants to. He's trying not to, but it's not all out of courtesy. Something is wrong.

I pick up my leggings hastily and put them on in a rush. I jump and twist on the dock, Navi watching from the tip of my iron boots. Peter is behind me, silent, most likely thinking… (cough) …impure thoughts. Well, if he's that type of guy. He doesn't really strike me as the women type, even though he's kind enough.

"Ih…" a ragged breath as I pull one foot into one side. "Ah…" another ragged breath as I bend over to put the other one into the other side. "Eh, ah…" I try to pull it up and end up making a mix of the two sounds. Finally after much struggling, I get it, I have them on! But…

There's a whooshing sound and I feel like I'm… falling!

I wave my arms and hands and see fleetingly the image of Peter running after me with an arm outstretched, but he's too late. Then the splash. Water rushes over me, my eyes instantly shut. I try to swim up to the surface for air but something doesn't want to. I can't… I feel…

But then a hand reaches my collar and brings me up.

"Are you okay?"

I blink. "Peter?" My voice is harsh and strained, like I've just had a cold.

My vision manages to focus and his face is an inch close to mine. So close I can see the jewels inside the hilt of the sword on his back. I can feel the beginnings of a blush, but I don't. His eyes are too worried. But still…

He is worried about me. He's never been worried.

His breathing is shaky, and he looks a little sweaty. I've never seen him this close. But for a single second of time his midnight blue eyes flash, and I see something… something red.

I blink again. "Are you okay?"

He brings me up, myself helping him a little, and I nod, vaguely, to assure him. Only then once I'm turned from him do I blush. We had been only an inch close. Did I love him? No. But did I _like_ him? Now that…

"Are you sure you're okay?"

I nod again, this time with more vigor. "Yes, I'm alright." He smiles. A soft smile. Like the smiles I give to comfort him. Only his is a smile of relief, happiness, and joy. What kind? Not to mention smiles like that are rare, at least, coming from him.

I put on my Iron Boots and Navi hides in my hat again, settling in my hair. She feels soft and fuzzy, like a blanket. I don't mind it really, I kind of like it.

I turn to him. He's still a little worried. I strap the Master Sword to my back. I smile at him with a kinder, deeper smile and put a hand on his shoulder. "Really, I'm fine. It happens all the time. Now are we going or not?"

He looks up. He's a little cautious about it, but he nods.

"I'll just hang onto you okay? All you gotta do is jump."

If it were only that easy.

He takes hold of my waist with both arms in a hug-like motion. A word comes to mind for one second, _"Straddling,"_ and then it goes away. He's having a little trouble adjusting to holding me around my shield but as soon as I feel he's ready, I got ready to jump. Thank Nayru he can't see how hard I'm blushing. But I jump anyway.

And then we're sinking, down to the Water Temple deep underneath Lake Hylia.

.oOo.

**Reader's POV**-

Link and Shadow, known to Link as Peter, had sunk down the bottom of the lake at last. The problem was, they still had to walk to the temple.

On the bright side, Link had already gotten it open.

It seemed hours to them both as Link trudged in the water, the iron boots making a horrible clanking sound against the rocks and dirt. Shadow was clinging to Link with his legs now, so he could stay down under the water with him.

However, the little walking trip, no matter how enjoyable, was beginning to get incredibly boring. So Shadow decided to strike up a conversation, as hard for him as it might be.

The tunics allow them to see, breathe, and hear underwater, but Shadow had never tried speaking. He had thought about it, and since sound could travel in water why was there any reason not to? You could also breathe underwater in these tunics, and all you need to speak is oxygen and some sort of matter.

So to pass the time, Shadow talked with Link.

"How long do you think it'll be, with you going at this pace?" Link didn't look back, because apparently, the dust he was kicking up in the water was making difficult to see clearly.

"I don't know," he sighed truthfully, "but if this dust doesn't clear it'll take even longer." Shadow made a sort of frowning look, and a worried look, as though he could feel something was coming. "Don't you have sort of tool or bit of magic to help clear things out of the way?"

Link thought for a bit. "Well do you think this would work?" He held up the dim red triangle that was Din's Fire. Shadow nodded.

"Give it a try."

Ignoring the fact that Shadow had clung tighter to him, Link activated the crystal. Shadow, in view of his magic meter, watched the green bar go down slightly as a dome-shaped circle of connected bright red bubbles surrounded them and then spread outwards from where they were with a great BOOM!

Link, who had had his eyes closed, opened them.

"Hey… it cleared the dust!"

Shadow looked around and at the rock below them. "That's a reaction I've never seen before…" Link just shrugged, and trudged on, the magic hanging in the air keeping a good bit of the dust away from them.

When at last they arrived at the temple, Link tapped his boots together, the iron dissipating into the water, and the both of the went up through the water like magic.

"Ah!"

Link looked back at Shadow, who had let go now. "What? I always do that." The thing was, they had exhaled precisely at the same time. Link nodded, slowly, and clambered up to the ledge. Shadow followed, no help needed.

They both walked through the hallway, Link looking around in awe with Shadow watching him. He knew what the temple looked like. A little too much. Then he remembered there was something about this hall… something not right. Maybe he didn't know the entrance as well as he thought he did.

"Ah!" What?

Link was trying furiously to keep his balance. Why? Then he remembered. _The edge… _There was an edge at the end of this hallway, and Link was about to fall over it. But what was at the bottom? Water? Sand? _Both_, his mind supplied. At once he remembered how high the entrance was. He knew hitting either (the sand or the water) falling from this height was bad. In an instant he reached out for the collar of Link's tunic.

"Link! Stop!" He sort of stopped, but he could feel some fear ripple through Link's skin. "Just stay still," he coaxed, Link having no objection to obeying. Shadow grabbed Link's right arm, and slowly let go of the collar, grabbing Link's left arm with his other hand. Without warning, he jerked back a little, and they went tumbling onto the ground.

"Sorry, sorry," Link muttered, shaking his head and turning away, "but thanks. Thank you."

Shadow sort of shook himself out of his little world that the fall had sent his mind off to, and focused on Link. Link turned back to him, with a little bit of a blush still on his cheeks. "No problem," he muttered, looking down, the floor suddenly very interesting. Link shook his head and got up.

"Well are we going or not? Personally I'd like to defeat whatever's in this place before dusk but if you really don't want to hurry…" Shadow looked up. The blush was gone, replaced with a smirk and an odd mischievous glint in his blue eyes. Shadow smiled.

Grunting, he got up, smiling softly. "Yeah, sure. Come on, let's go kick some evil ass shall we?" Then he returned the same mischievous smile with a chuckle. "Yeah, come on." Link took Shadow by the arm and they walked over to the edge of the hallway.

"We're going to have to jump."

Link looked at Shadow. "Jump? You're telling me after all that all we have to do is jump?" He looked at Link. "Yeah." Link slapped his forehead. "Oy…" A snicker. A glare, but playful. "Okay, okay, just get your iron boots ready." Link clicked his feet again and once more were his boots covered in iron.

"Ready, Peter?" Shadow nodded. He was accustomed to the name Peter but just once he wished that Link would call him by his name. He clung to Link's back, swinging Link's shield around to his chest. "Now this is much better." He's stiffens a little when he sees how close he is to the Master Sword, but it seems to know he won't do any harm to its master. He relaxes, and Link jumps.

It seems like a long way down, both of them screaming as they fall. Shadow's grip on Link tightens, causing a small break in his scream. Shadow doesn't notice this though, as he's too busy screaming on his own.

Then, SPLASH!

And they arrive on the bottom of the water, landing on more sand. But very hard sand. "You know what, Link?" Shadow finally says after their landing, "I have a bit of magic I can use to duplicate these boots. Care to let me try?"

"And you just now remember you can do this?" Shadow smiles sheepishly, even though Link can't see. Link sighs. "Go on, then. Try it."

Shadow taps Link's iron boots twice with his own feet, and at once a pair of iron boots appear, weighing Shadow down. "Ah, it works!" He looks at Link excitedly, with Link shaking his head. "Yeah, come on Peter." Link had now switched his shield back to his back, and they were both walking to an opening where two torch stands were standing.

This hallway was tiled; sapphire blue tiles from corner to corner. A beautiful hall, but still a hall in this Din-forsaken place. They walked on, then turned the corner, and Link gasped.

"Ruto?"

It was a Zora. A very pretty one. She had soft azure eyes like Link, and a very slender build.

"Oh… you…" She whispered it, as if to herself, like she didn't believe something. "If-If I'm right… Link?" Link nods, slowly. "I heard you were trapped here." She huffs a little. "Was, but this Sheik character saved me from the ice. I'm trying to get rid of the beast that's poisoned this temple and probably frozen my home." They were both silent at that.

"Who are you?" Shadow asks. She looks at him. "You don't know? Why, I am Ruto, Princess of the Zoras! And this cutie here is my fiancée!" Link shakes his head in disbelief. "What? Ruto, that was years ago!" Ruto laughs. "Why my love, don't you know women remember everything? I never forgot those vows we made to each other seven years ago! You're a terrible man to have kept me waiting for all those years…" And so she went on and on.

"Err, vows?" Link clears his throat and mutters, "Apparently the Zora Sapphire doubles as an engagement ring." Shadow sniggers. "Lucky you." He scoffs. "Yeah, lucky me."

"But," she says suddenly, "But now is not the time to talk about love- "Thank Din," Link says under his breath "–and you must have already seen it. My home is frozen, as is my father and my people." The look on Shadow's face seems to say, "I admire your sincerity but can we get a move-on?" and Link's expression is a serious one.

"I want you to save them all! I want you to save Zora's Domain! You! You have to help me! This is a request from the woman who is going to be your wife!" Shadow coughs. Link pales slightly. "Link," she continues, "you have to help me destroy the evil inside the temple!"

"All right, Ruto, I will, but…" Link trails off. Shadow knows what he wants to say, and Ruto sighs. She knows it too. "Fine, I might not become your wife, but you are one handsome devil!" Shadow breaks out in a coughing fit, and then controls it after a few seconds. "Now, I'm serious here. Inside the Water Temple there are three places where you can change the water level. I'll lead the way. Follow me!"

And she begins to swim up, and up, and out of sight.

"That was a little… odd." Link nods. "Yeah…"

After a little bit, Link says to Shadow, "Shouldn't we go follow her?" "Yeah, we kind of have to…" Then they both tap their boots and float to the surface of the water.

Now they're in a square room, also patterned with sapphire blue tiles, and there's a door to their left. Shadow also spots a triforce pattern on the wall in front of them, but that's about it. Link gets out of the water and helps Shadow out, and then he looks at the triforce pattern.

"Where's Ruto?" Shadow wondered. Link frowned, glancing around. "I didn't hear her scream, but…" He shivered, an icy feeling sliding down his spine. "I don't think we'll be seeing her again. Not for a while." Then he noticed the pattern on the wall.

"I wonder what it means…"

"Try playing some notes," Shadow said, squeezing some water out of his hat, "like a special song or something." "On what? Oh, my Ocarina!" He takes out the little blue ocarina out but stops short. "Hey Link, what's wrong?" "I have a feeling we can't do this yet. We've got to do something else first. So how about we go in that room and see what's in there huh?" Shadow follows him, drawing his sword, knowing a battle is about to take place.

"Ack, they're everywhere!"

Shadow rushes to Link's side, whacking the rock in front of him. It blows up into tiny bits, leaving nothing behind. "Those are spike traps." "Well that's obvious!" Link retorts. "They're spiky, yes, but they turn into rocks if they don't sense movement nearby. Now, just wait for the nearest one to turn…"

And a silver spiked ball near them turned brown and rocky, and Shadow whacked it hard once with his sword, the creature crumbling into dust. "See, not so hard." Link laughs. "Yeah, and we only have what, four more?" "Don't be so ridiculous Link. They aren't that hard to defeat." Link whacks two in one attack and stands up and looks at Shadow proudly. "I told you so." Link scowls as Shadow smiles to himself.

Link finishes off the last two with ease.

Then a chest appears, and Link walks over to it and opens it. "Hey, it's a dungeon map! Cool!" "Yeah," Shadow says to him over his shoulder, "absolutely amazing." Link scowls again. "Hey… look Peter! There's a note on this one room… it says 'Compass: Water must be at full level' and there's a square drawn on it too…" Shadow looks at it. _Hey… I wrote that._ But he looks back at Link, who is now putting the map into his hat.

"Is that thing enchanted or what, because I have no idea how you keep everything in there."

Link laughs. "Yeah, course it is. All the Kokiri have hats like this." Shadow shrugs. "Now let's go get that compass. Seeing as the water level is still where we need it to be, all we have to do is go back and find that compass." "No, we can get the compass later. I've been in here before, and that compass isn't easy to get to with what we're equipped with now." Link looks at himself and at Shadow. "Yes… I suppose you're right. I'll lower the water level down then."

Link walks out of the room, Shadow following. He stares at the triforce inscription for a while and then a realization dawns on him. Shadow raises an eyebrow but says nothing. Then Link takes out his ocarina and plays a soft tune. Shadow closes his eyes and imagines how those lips playing the ocarina might taste when applied elsewhere… but then the lowering of the water shakes him out of his daydream.

Link drops down, his feet hitting the very bottom with a loud THUD! Shadow follows, rolling instead of landing in the same spot.

"Link," Shadow says, as Link starts to leave, "I think we have to light these torches." Link shrugs. "Sure, I'll give it a try. Here, hold onto me so you don't get hit." Shadow clung to him as he had before, but this time he was the one blushing. He hadn't realized how warm other bodies were. And this was his hikari… most likely the warmest person he could ever touch, unless someone had a fever.

Link then set off his Din's Fire, lighting all the torches in the room, letting the door behind them become un-barred. Shadow let go of Link, trying to rub the blush off his face. When he finally did look up, Link was gone. And then the bars went back up. Why?

He began to panic, but after a little while Link came back out, holding a small key in his right hand. "Piece of cake," he said, tossing the key to Shadow. Shadow just looked at him. He truly was the chosen hero. He didn't need anyone's help. Certainly not his help anyway.

Shadow sighed a little in relief and followed him out to the main room.

They walked to the other side of the room and climbed on top of a box that had come from the water when it fell. They walked down the hallway and came to a big block, which they pushed, and when it was pushed far enough, it dropped into a hole down through the water. "Shall we?" Shadow nodded, and they dived down again into the water.

It was a blue-tiled hallway, and as they walked to the end of it, they clicked their boots and rose to the top. "Great, another room," Link grumbled. "There's always going to be another room my friend," Shadow told him, "every time. At least, until you get the boss key." Link laughed, and the walked into the room.

There was a big gap in the room, at the bottom of held a small waterspout. To the right of them was a switch you could hit, and across the room was Tekitie. "I hate those things," Link muttered. "Me too," Shadow agreed.

"Let's do this thing, shall we Link?" He nods. "You do the honors." Shadow whacks the switch and the fountain comes up, at which they both jump across and go through the door in record time.

"Wow," says Shadow, breathless, "we did that in like fifteen seconds." "Yeah," huffed Link, "we should do that again sometime." Shadow laughs, and helps Link up as they look at the new room.

It was basically a gigantic room with lots of spinning water.

"So, who's going down there?" "Well you're the one with the hookshot." "True." So it was unanimous that Link would be the one to go down. After much watching Link struggle to hit the switch in the dragon's mouth and then reach the chest in time before the gate went down Link finally came up at Shadow's feet with a gasp, holding another small key.

"Here. Take it." Shadow took it and looked at him strangely. "You're insane." It was a statement, not a question. "Yeah, I might be insane, but you know, when you're a couple of inches away from being fried, electrocuted, or some other form of pain, it really doesn't matter." And he finished this with a crazed smile. "Yeah," Shadow said, "you're definitely insane."

And then they made their way back to the main room.

Shadow dragged Link up to the ledge. "You know, I swear that little monster was after me. It completely avoided you!" Link laughed. "Right. And who's the one that declared I was insane?" Shadow just glared as Link laughed some more. "Touché, Link, touché."

And then they walked to the south side of the room where a locked door was waiting. Shadow took one of the two keys he had with him and unlocked it, watching the chains drop to the floor with a dull CLUNK!

"Shall we?" Shadow motioned to the door with his hands. "Yes, lets," Link replied in the like.

The next room was very tall, not to mention it contained about a half dozen ledges. "Wow… that's…" "Not as big as the last room," Shadow inserted. "Still…" "Yeah." Shadow spotted a hookshot symbol on a ledge up top. "Hey, look!" Link looked up. "It seems to be the only way up, seeing as there's no door on the other side of this bridge."

They were also standing on a bridge of stone, surrounded by nice pointy spikes. "Wouldn't want to fall on those from any height," Link muttered. "Likewise," Shadow agreed.

"You're going to have to hold me again, seeing as I'm the only one with a hookshot. I don't suppose you can do that thing you did with the Iron Boots now can you?" "Sorry," Shadow said, "but it only works with clothes." Link nodded. "Very well then. Hang on." Shadow did as he was told and Link brought them up to the ledge.

Shadow spotted another triforce symbol. "Link, look! Another symbol!" Link saw it, gauged the jump from where they were, and then ran. "Link, wait!" But it was too late. Link had already jumped. Shadow closed his eyes, as he couldn't bear to watch. "I'm alright Sh-" Shadow looked up. "You're okay?" Link looked up. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's not that far of a jump." Shadow nodded. Why had Link tried to say Shadow? Was it possible he had let his real name slip at some point, or was Link just getting tired? Shadow shrugged, and then jumped.

By the time he had jumped, Link had finished playing the song and the water began to rise. And they were now floating in water.

"Smooth, Link. Real smooth." Link just laughed. 

Then they climbed up onto the ledge where the only available door stood. And then they entered it, Shadow apparently thinking very hard.

"Hey Link?" "Yeah?" "Do you remember that crack in the wall we saw when we were floating up that first time? Back in the place where we found Ruto?" Link nodded. "Yeah. Why?" Shadow looked at the water. "We'd be able to reach that now, and it wouldn't be full of water either. You do have some bombs with you don't you?" Link smiled.

"Bombs? Of course. I always have bombs." Shadow looked at Link.

"Uh oh."

Shadow barely had enough time to get his iron boots on before Link dragged him down into the water rather comically, and then ran (in an also comical slow-motion style) to the chamber they had seen Ruto in before. After which, they took off their boots and floated to the top of the water, which was just where Shadow had said it would be, right in front of a crack in the wall.

"Why are you looking at the wall like that? It did nothing to you." Link laughed. "I just get a rush whenever I set one of these things off." Shadow scoffed a little, and stayed where he was, in the water, holding onto the side with his fingers. "Adrenaline junkie," he muttered.

"What?" "Nothing!" "Right…"

Link set a bomb at the center of the crack, lit it; then ran to the left corner of the room behind Shadow.

BOOM!

Lots of crumbling, crashing of bits of rock, maybe some squeals. It didn't sound good. Shadow had closed his eyes and waited patiently for the smoke in the room to clear, but realized that it already had, and Link was standing in front of him, squatting so he could look into Shadow's eyes. "Are you coming or what?" Shoot… he was too close. Shadow knew he was blushing, but his slightly tanned skin hid it a fair bit. His eyes wandered to the bottom of Link's tunic, but before any thoughts could enter his head he looked back into Link's eyes. "Err, yeah. I was just waiting for the smoke to clear. Now help me out will you?"

Link smiled a strange smile. "Say please." Shadow shot him the same strange smile. "Please, then. Help me out now will you?" Link sighed, but the smile still remained. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" "Nothing. You just have to deal with me." "Haven't I been doing just that for a good hour now?" Shadow flashed him a cocky grin and whispered to him, "I believe it's been two hours Link. Now help me up." He looked up at him and gave him a soft smile. "Please."

Link got up and held out a hand, which Shadow took gratefully. "Really, thanks. You didn't have to do that." "It's alright Sh-err, Peter, really. We're friends right? That is what friends do." Shadow nodded. He had tried to say Shadow again. Was this some trick, something of Ganon's? No, he couldn't possibly have touched him or cursed him without Link remembering, much less telling him about their connection. He gave a friendly smile. "Yeah, that's what they do." And they entered the next room.

"Hey, it's just a key. Wow." Shadow looked up. "That's it?" "Yeah." Shadow shrugged, "Well, be thankful for the little things I suppose." Link nodded. "Where to now?" Shadow thought for a bit. "Let me see the map." Link gave it to him after a short search through his hat. Shadow took it and looked at it.

"See this marking here?" Link was looking over his shoulder. "There's a key in the room we were just in. The one where you raised the water level last." Link nodded. "Let's go get that key then." He winked. "Can't have too many now can we." As Link dived in and he was following, Shadow's mind was pondering things at a record pace. He didn't know if Ganon would try to find him here, but he did know he would most certainly focus most of his attention on him, if not Link.

Upon arrival at the previous room, Shadow came out of his brooding session.

"Okay," says Link, looking at the map, "this subscript here says the key is below the water." He stuffs the map into his hat again. "You coming?" Shadow looked up. "Oh, yeah." And so they dived down into the water, making sure not to land on the bed of pointy spikes on both sides of the bridge. Now that the water had risen a wooden block from a hole in the bridge, they were free to go down in it.

And so they did.

It was square and had a switch in one corner. Link spotted it and hit it, causing a few enemies to fall from a grate in the ceiling. Shadow was killing the spiked balls with his sword while Link was busy with the three clams that fell with his hookshot. Shadow wiped his brow to clear the hair out of his face. His streak of blond bangs as blond as all of Link's hair was getting in the way again, and then he heard Link cry out.

"Ah!"

Shadow whipped around. One clam had apparently escaped Link's hookshot and knocked it out of his hand. It was advancing on him and he had no sword either. Shadow saw the hookshot floating nearby and stunned it, grabbing the Master Sword and finishing it off. He looked back at Link as a grate went up to reveal a chest. "You alright?" He looked into Link's eyes and found a strange look in them. Confusion?

"Yeah," Link breathed out, "I'm fine." He got up and walked over to the chest and took the key out. Shadow stared at the Master Sword. He was _holding_ it. Wow. It really did trust him. Something swelled in his chest. Maybe, if it accepted him, Link just might-

"Shadow." What?

He looked at Link. Shadow? "I'm mean Peter. Sorry. I don't know where that came from." He stared at Link still, speechless. "Hey, can I have my sword back?" Huh? Shadow looked at the sword. "Oh! Yeah, here." He gave it back to Link, deliberately avoiding contact with his hand. He really had to stop this, before Link started to notice.

"Hey, come on, we got a monster to kill." Shadow forced a cocky smile. "Yeah, let's go." And he followed Link out and back to the main room.

"Where to next?" Shadow looked at the map. "I don't know…" Then something silver glinted in the distance. He looked to his left, around the corner. "Hey, how about that door?" "The locked one? Sure, we have plenty of keys." They swam over to the wooden block that made it possible to access it and entered the door after unlocking it.

Then next room was another square, blue tiled room with a switch and a waterspout. "Care to guess what we have to do here?" Link laughed. "Oh, I don't know. It's such a puzzle." Shadow laughed back. "You're hilarious. I really l-like you." He laughed again, to cover up his stutter. Link smiled. Shadow sighed, partly form laughing, and partly from relief. Link hadn't noticed.

_By Din… I almost said I loved him! Oh… what a mess I'm in._

Link then whacked the switch, grabbed Shadow and then stood on the rising fountain, whacking away a Tekitie that fell from the ledge.

"What the hell was that, Link? You bloody scared me doing that!" Link just laughed. "That was the intention. You looked bored out of you mind." Shadow blanched. "You have a strange way of acting around others my friend. Me especially." Link just laughed.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Come on man. We've still got a lot more temple to go through." Link straightened up and patted the giggles out of him lightly. "Yeah, let's go."

They opened the door and came face to face with a very small hallway. "Wow." Link looked down. "Reminds me of how we entered this temple." Shadow hummed in agreement. Then he spotted the triforce symbol. "Hey, Link. Look." Link looked back. "Oh. Thanks Sh-" Link stopped. "Why do I want to keep calling you Shadow?" Shadow blinked. Was it simply instinct then? They were after all, hikari and yami. It might only be natural to have an instinct to call the other by their real name. But Shadow simply shrugged. This was interesting to watch. "I don't know. But you can keep calling me Shadow if you like. Sounds cool." He flashed a grin.

Link laughed. "If you really want to," he paused, "Shadow."

_At last, my name!_

He turned back to the triforce symbol and played the song again; raising the water level back to the level it had been when we'd first entered. While Link was busy putting the ocarina away in his hat, he shot at the two blue Tekitie that were jumping up and down at them, killing them and making them burst into blue flames. He might not have enjoyed it, but it was cool to look at, though.

He noticed another locked door on his left again and pointed to it. "Let's go there Link." Link looked at the door. He shrugged. "Why not? Let's go." They dived into the water, swam to the wooden block, and opened the door and entered the room.

"Whoa. Now this is a room." "Yeah, they certainly had style." "Yeah…"

It was another large room; only this time it had a waterfall in it coming from the ledge on the other side of the room where another locked door was waiting.

"Let's do this thing shall we?" "The question is," Shadow murmured, "how do we do this? I can see how one person would do this, but two? It truly is a puzzle." Link hummed an agreement. Then his head shot up after staring at the end of the room for a while. "Hey! I know!" Shadow looked over at him, his arms crossed. "How?"

"I'll go up there first," he explained, and then I'll slide this onto one those sliding platforms." "And?" "And then you, from down there, will-" "No, it's too dangerous. We could lose the hookshot if I didn't catch it in time. Or you, if I went first. I'm going to have to hold onto you. That is, if you don't mind."

"Course not. We've been doing that for the whole temple haven't we?" _Yes, a little too much, _thought Shadow. His attraction to Link was becoming more and more noticeable each time there was a situation like this. But he was going to have to keep hiding it, for Link's sake.

Link slid down to ledge and Shadow following. Then they slid to the ledge under that one and Shadow held onto Link once more. "Ready" "As always." "Alright then." And that was that. Link did his job, shooting the hookshot time after time, and, after a long time of listening to the hookshot shooting off, they were finally at the exit.

"See," said Link, dusting himself off, "that wasn't so hard." Shadow said nothing as he dusted off as well. Then they used the last key to open the door and enter the next room.

"They cease to amaze me." "What, the Zoras or the Tekitie breeding habits?"

"Both."

The room was also large, and contained a switch, lots of water, an exit to the right of them, and three blue Tekitie creatures sitting on the water, as well as several stone dragon statues.

Link looked at Shadow. "Let's do this thing?" Shadow nodded. "You shoot, then toss?" "Deal." He shook Shadow's hand and as Shadow shot the creatures to death, he made the statues rise and he shot his hookshot on the nearest one tossing the hookshot to Shadow who crosses over as Link shoots at the switch and lowers the statues.

"You know, I really don't know why I keep wanting to call you Shadow. Are you sure you don't know why? I mean, you look just like me, only darker, like a shadow. Is that why?" Shadow stares at him. _Getting way too close…_ but Shadow clears his throat. "N-No. I'm afraid I really don't. I wish I knew." His expression wasn't one of his usual casual ones, and he was fiddling a little with his collar. Link passed it off as a reaction to the sudden subject change.

"Okay," he said, taking the hookshot and crossing to the ledge, tossing it back from where he stood on the dragon's head, "just let me know if you do know. It's starting to bother me. I mean really, really bother me." Shadow nodded slightly, crossing and handing it back.

"But what I don't get," he continued to say as he shot at the switch and crossed again to the last head and tossing the hookshot back, "is why we're so alike. We aren't related, though it is possible, and it's just strange that we look as we do." Shadow tossed him the hookshot again, shooting the switch for Link.

Link climbed up on the head and Shadow with him and then shot the switch raising them up to the ledge, where they fought off another two Tekitie creatures. "Really Shadow, if you know, tell me."

"And what if I don't?" "Then you don't know, I suppose." And they stood there for a while. Then Link looked up, a dark expression on his face.

"Or you could be an ghost, a ghost given a solid body and existence, by Ganon perhaps?" "Never Ganon!" Shadow shouted, "I hate the man! For who he is and what he's done! You are a good friend to me, Link, but do not accuse me for being his slave! I would never dream to become as such." Link was taken aback by the sudden explosion, and then noticed something.

His shoulders were shuddering. Peter… Shadow… whoever he was…

Shadow pushed away onto the wall, tears stinging in his eyes. Some of them escaped him, and he closed them furiously in hopes of keeping in the rest. He couldn't. "Don't you ever accuse me of that." Shadow groaned, ashamed and wondered what in the world he was going to do now. Link approached him and softly set his hands on his back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. I'm just confused, that's all."

Confused? Right. Or was he?

Shadow turned to look at him, tears of the past couple days rolling down his cheeks. His face felt hot, and Link's face was so close… too close. He could feel Link's breath tickle the wet flesh where tears had run over.

"Why did you react that way? What has Ganon done to you?"

.oOo.

**Shadow's POV-**

"What has Ganon done to you?"

The words sparked something in me then. I wanted to answer, but I couldn't. It was as if some animal had taken over my brain and was running it on fried emotions and no common sense. Or quite possibly, for me at least, common sense didn't exist anymore. Not in me. Whatever the case, I couldn't have stopped the coming events even if I had wanted to.

That is, if I had wanted to at all…

"Link?" My voice was a whisper. A very soft one, but Link was close enough to hear it. "Yes?" His voice was soft also, but it was meant for comfort. Link sat down close beside me, ignoring the Like-Like on the other side of the spikes in the hallway.

"Do you really want to know?" Darn, darn, darn! My conscience had woken up at last, but it was too late. The thing that was driving my brain now had locked up anything that could've saved me.

"Sure. Tell me everything." Everything? No!

"N-Not everything…" Link looked at me. "No?" I shook my head. The thing had soothed my conscience for now, but there was still no stopping it. Not now. "No. You see… he's after me." "Who?" "Ganon." Link stares at me. Nothing's wrong yet. I'm still safe.

_Not for long,_ my conscience tells me.

"Okay, so he's pursuing you. Why?" I look at him desperately. I don't want to tell him, but he's my partner. We have to be truthful to each other.

"He wants to kill me." That's what I think in my mind so it's not entirely a lie. "What, why? I won't let him!" I smile wistfully and now my conscience has given up rebelling. I'm forced to listen to myself say, "Yeah, you can try. I'm dead anyway. For helping you." He looks at me, he's worried. Oh Link, can't you see I'm telling the truth?

"No! He can't get you…"

Great, now I've made him cry. What a nice mess I'm in. Wait… he's crying? I've never seen him crying, much less over me.

"Just because you helped me? You're dead? No… I won't let him. Ganon has done enough damage. He won't take you too. You're mine, not his." I blink. His? Maybe… could he… and then the thing that's driving my brain commits its final act.

"Look at me Link."

He obeys, looking into my eyes. I can tell they've stopped turning blue and their true color is showing, but I don't care. Not anymore. If I'm going to die, then I'm going to experience what I might never experience again… now.

"Shadow, your eyes…" I can't hear him. I see his lips moving, but it makes little difference. "Link…" His breath smells so wonderful, it's completely intoxicating now that I'm so close. His lips are right there, and then I can't hold it anymore. I move closer and close my eyes.

It was just a kiss. A simple kiss. I had never kissed anyone like this and if I was right, and I was going to die, then I probably never would ever again. There was nothing that added to the kiss like chocolate or anything. No strawberries, incense, candles, or anything like that. The kiss was just him; just Link. My partner.

It was wonderful. I wanted to stay there forever.

And then it ended, my eyes opened instantly, not to find that he'd pulled back, but that he'd fainted. Oh Din, what had I done?

I rushed out of the temple as fast as I could, hoping that he didn't wake up before I could get him to the shore. I laid him on the shore not far from my cottage, and I waited. The wind blew through my hair gently as I watched him, though I knew I couldn't stay. I couldn't see him again. I stroked his cheek, marveling at its surprising softness, and I buried my face in his hair. I didn't want to leave, but the chances of being found were too great. Then I gave him a small peck where I'd stroked cheek and covered him with a small blanket I found in his hat. No, I couldn't bring myself to think about it.

Not until I was ready to face him.

But, I thought to myself as I watched him from my cottage window, how long would it be until then?

.oOo.

And so ends the time lapse for the water temple. I hope that all of my faithful reviewers, Mike included, give me input on this chapter. Hope you liked the kiss! ;)

P.S. Merry Christmas! (late or early)


	9. Winds of Change

**Chapter Nine**: Winds of Change

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 9

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link, Link, Zelda, and Nintendo are not mine.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

This chapter is basically the date he had promised Victoria and then some. Now remember, the paring says _slight_ Link x Dark Link, so don't kill me. This chapter also connects from Chapter Seven, not eight, so if you seem a little confused, go back and read seven.

Thanks for those that reviewed (did anyone?), and please do so again.

.oOo.

**Link's POV- **

Why did he kiss me? What good did it do us both? Perhaps he's regretting it, because he might've stayed if he weren't ashamed, or maybe he didn't mean to do it, and was shocked at his own actions.

Whatever the case, my feelings about him are still unclear. His kiss did nothing to assure my feelings. It's as if there's a scale inside me with Zelda on one side and Shadow on the other. And I wonder… why do I insist on calling him Shadow?

What secrets is he hiding? I can't tell right from wrong anymore, but I've nowhere to turn. I'm afraid to ask Navi's opinion, and whatever Saria tells me will be in riddles. I sigh, exasperated.

Where am I, you ask? Sitting by the diving pool that leads to the Lost Woods, listening to the calming drum of Zora's Waterfall. I had come this way to see if I could get some answers out of Victoria, but she wasn't home, and I know for certain she doesn't have work today, or tomorrow for that matter.

But back to Shadow. He's hiding something from me. Is it the necessary kind? Or is it something small and he's just sensitive? I don't know, all of Shadow seems to be unstable now that I look at him.

Why this is, I'm still unsure, but then again, life is never black and white again once you've been kissed like that.

And then there's another factor; do I like other boys? And I do mean in that way. What pleasure would such a relationship give me versus loving a woman? I might, perhaps, see the woman's perspective of a hetero relationship and be taken instead of the other way around? How would that feel?

I'm not so sure. The prospect is exciting, and interesting, but… never in all my life have I been so afraid of something like this. I'm not afraid of being that way, and I'm not being prejudiced, either. I'm just afraid of being that way. For me, I'm not sure if it would be _right_. I'm not against it; it's just not me at all.

Don't ask me how I know what I know. Let's just say Victoria shoved me into Kakariko's library and locked me in there for a good long while…

Even though being homosexual is so common in Hyrule it's almost a norm, I just don't know it I'm meant to be that way. But I can't talk myself into _not_ being that way if I'm fated to be… it truly is confusing, this hole I've talked myself into.

And so here I am, hoping that I might be able to solve this once I find him again, but how long will it be until then? I _still_ have to get through the Water Temple too. Perhaps… I'll find my answers tomorrow. For now, I need a nap, and later, maybe some food.

Sleep always helps. Usually.

.oOo.

**Shadow's POV-**

I'm leaning against a post that holds up the sign to the entrance of the corral, my rented black stallion named Midnight grazing near a tree. I was waiting for Victoria to arrive, because today was the day.

I had promised her a date, or rather, that I'd see her again, but she probably counts it as a date, the poor soul. She's so innocent, but she has a fiery personality, and quite possibly a temper worse than Ganon's. But I doubt that. I shudder, remembering the last time 'd seen him. Even now it still feels like he's watching me, waiting for me… well.

In any case, it's got to be the red hair.

I'm also munching on the last bits of a sandwich the ranch girl Malon gave me. She said I looked hungry and made it for me. It wasn't like I could refuse; I was ravenous.

Then my long ears twitch; a sound carries over the wind to them. I can hear grumbling as a soft, feminine voice curses about being late. I recognize the voice almost immediately and my heart leaps. She's here! Or, well, almost. She's complaining about being late. I snort at the thought. Late? If she's late, I'm on time.

Then I'm suddenly jerked from my thoughts and pummeled into, though not so hard I'm knocked over.

"Curse you for being in my-" I chuckle as I see her recoiling and shaking her mane of long red hair. She gasps a little. "Well I guess I was mistaken when I thought you were a shy person." A grin as she looks up. "Huh?"

She looks me up and down, eyes practically drinking the rich purple color of my tunic, and then blushing. She's probably cursing herself for running into me. I smile softly. "There's no need to apologize, it was my fault. Who on earth stands in the entrance of a corral anyway?" She gasped, a fake one this time and then smirked at me, folding her arms.

"I didn't know it was possible for men to say sorry." Then her slender peach-pink lips curled into a grin. I chuckled.

"I do believe some of us are more educated in manners than others. Nice joke by the way." I winked at her and she blushed again, reddening most of her very pale complexion. "Thank you… um… sir." Sir? She was too pretty to have to call me that. I also doubt I deserved such a title.

"Please," I almost begged, shaking my head, "don't call me sir. Call me Peter." She gave a half-snort and grinned. "Okay _Peter_, where is this secret place you said you'd take me?" I shook my head, my initial worry only a flash this time.

"I can't tell you," I told her softly.

Her lips curled again, this time into a pout. It was almost too cute to resist. "Why not?" She asked me playfully. "Because then it wouldn't be a surprise!" I chided. "I also want you blindfolded. Is that alright with you?" I asked her hesitantly, but fast enough to only sound curious. I was getting better at this.

She looked puzzled, but after awhile, she smiled softly and nodded.

"Uh… okay. I'll do it." I was almost giddy with relief. "Wonderful! Here, put this on." I handed her the plain blue cloth I had picked up earlier, and I realized that it matched her blue dress.

She put it on, and I slowly took one of her hands, leading her to Midnight. I helped her get on, and then I mounted, sitting on the saddle behind her, taking the reins and leading the beast out of Lon Lon Ranch.

We galloped across the wide plains of Hyrule Field, the wind blowing through every single hair on my head, virtually lifting all my troubles away. Most of Victoria's long hair was plastered in between her back and my chest, so I could still see. I was practically purring at the feeling of pleasure that shot through my blood when I realized this, and I almost put my head on one of her shoulders, but resisted when I found myself trying to do so.

Then we were passing the bit of rocky field that marked the entrance to Gerudo Valley. I could now recognize the smell of her hair, which from what I could tell, was vaguely like the red roses I once kept in my room back at the castle. That and lavender.

The mix was almost enough to make me drowsy, but I shook my head a little and rid myself of it. It wouldn't do if the driver of the horse fell asleep and crashed into something now would it?

But I also wouldn't dare think of what might happen to Victoria if I did.

I looked on into the distance and saw the fences that barred the way to Lake Hylia. It would still be awhile, but not long.

When we finally did jump over the fences, I could feel her move her hand and stroke her chin. What was she thinking? Could she sense where we were? She did have a particularly strong aura, not an essence, but an aura. I wondered vaguely if she could use magic, or if it was just her strong personality that caused her to have such a strong aura.

Then I saw something in the distance. It was running, no, jumping toward us. It was a large, Blue Tekitie. And then it jumped at us.

"Get back you ugly brute!" I yelled. "Hyah!" I kicked at it, trying desperately to keep it away from Victoria and very nearly failing. "Take that!" I couldn't take it much longer, so I quickly handed Victoria the reigns and jumped off.

I tried to punch it, but since you could only really kill it with a sword, I was basically punching with futility. Every time it would lunge, I kicked, or punched, and I would damage it, but it would get me back even worse. I could have used my magic, I'm sure, but doing so might've drawn some unwanted attention. After a good twenty odd lunges, my breathing was labored, and my injuries were mounting. Only one more, I felt, would be enough to knock me out.

And then it lunged again.

I held my arm up, to try and shield myself from the attack, but it never came. Suddenly, there was a lot of heat, and I slowly let my arm down to see what it was.

It was the Tekitie, burning. Screeching and writhing in pain, and crumpling into itself as the fire disappeared. Then, when the blood-curdling sounds stopped, Victoria gasped and began to fall off the horse.

I gasped myself. "No!" I yelled.

I ran to catch her, just barely doing so before she hit the ground. I panicked. But not because the horse was startled and attempting to buck, but because she wasn't responding.

"Are you alright?" I asked her softly. There was no answer. "Victoria?" I said it a little louder, panic creeping into my voice. Again there was no answer. I shook her shoulders as rough I as wound let myself, but there was _still_ no answer. I looked up and saw my shack wasn't too far away.

Still slightly panicking, I tied her to the horse as best I could, and rode as fast I as dared to my house. Stopping the horse sharply, I carefully took Victoria off Midnight, and into the house.

I set her on my bed, gently, and then rushed to my small kitchen where I fetched a towel and wet it with warm water that was irrigated from the lake. After I wrung it a bit, I ran to Victoria, putting the towel on her forehead. I kept my hand on the towel a bit, but then I jerked it back. Her forehead was practically burning!

And yet, she didn't look sick. Instead, she seemed to only be having a bad dream, but it looked as though she couldn't get out of it. She couldn't wake up. In my worry, I didn't notice how strong her aura had grown, and I simply held her hand as I sat on the bed, my left leg bouncing up and down; my worried eyes most likely betraying their true blood red color. I fought to breathe normally. Never had I been so worried over a person.

She was in pain, I knew that much. Her eye had twitched when the towel had come in contact with her head, but otherwise she hadn't made any other movement. Eventually, she gripped the sheets tightly with her right hand, and squeezed hard onto my hand with her right. Even so, I couldn't feel any pain.

Then all at once, she stilled, relaxed, and began to breathe normally. Her nightmare had passed. Eventually she began to stir.

I slowly peeled off the steaming towel, and set it aside on the hand-carved dresser. I waited patiently for her to awaken. I watch in silence as she twitched, then tried to move. Her body must've been stiff from falling off the horse so suddenly, coupled with whatever had forced her body into shock.

She found she really couldn't, then tried to open her lips, but from what I could see, they were dry, slightly cracked, and most likely, stiff. She was agitated. It was almost funny enough to make me relax. She was going to be alright. So I hoped at least.

Finally she tried to open her eyes.

"Awake now are you?" I watched as she blinked blearily at nothing, staring into space. I wondered fleetingly if she had heard me.

"I am now," she whispered softly, her lips barely moving. She licked them to try to get them moving again. I smiled a little, but I wanted to confirm my suspicions.

"What happened back there?" She herself looked like she wasn't sure. Not a good sign. "I don't know what happened," she confessed, still softly, "Something caught fire and then I fainted." Her eyelids drooped a little. "I think…"

I watched her as she thought, or tried to think, and it was… interesting, to say the least.

She was mostly awake now, and her eyes were looking up at again, nothing, and her lips were curled in a half pout. It didn't look like she knew what happened. Then I saw a spark of something appear in her eyes, but it quickly died out. Doubt? Confirmation? What had I seen?

"How long have I been out?" I was almost startled. I looked at her with a guarded expression. "About half an hour, give or take a few minutes." Had it really been that long? I almost shook my head as I smiled. "What I want to know, is if you're well enough to accompany me, provided that you don't faint again."

She smiled softly as she looked directly at my eyes. I tried not to stiffen, but I could tell she was searching for something. "Of course," she whispered, "provided you let me have no blindfold."

"Touché," I chuckled.

Suddenly I became all too aware of how close we were, and how sad and hurt she looked, and it all hit me at once, making me loose control of my actions. I found myself kissing her still warm cheek, and when I realized what I was doing, I leaned back as fast as I could.

She had closed her eyes and was now opening them to look at me. I wasn't sure what I was feeling, but when she tried to speak, I cut her off.

"I'm sorry," I burst out, "I shouldn't have done it and-" She put a finger to my lips and swung her legs over the bedside. What? What was this? Why did she stop me?

"No," she insisted softly, "it's alright. You don't _have_ to say sorry this time." She smiled and the hand that had held the finger to his lips and his right shoulder, and kissed him. It was a soft, chaste kiss, but it was nice and long. It was definitely better than the kiss I had given Link. I tried not to dwell on that event, seeing as I could no longer go down that road.

When she broke away, he was almost sad. "Fair?" She said with a grin. I couldn't help but blush, _hard_. I shook my head to rid myself of it.

"Now what were you saying about going somewhere?" I stood up and held out my hand to her. She stared at me dreamily for a few seconds, and then she smiled and took my hand.

As she stood up, she winced at how stiff she still was, and I wanted to give her another kiss. But I stopped myself, because she would realize that I _hadn't_ given her that kiss out of pity, and that I truly did have feelings for her. That might not be a bad thing, but this was only one date! Then again, interesting events had occurred on said date, so I wasn't really sure if she would care if she knew.

But would I think the same? Could _I_ trust her with my tattered heart?

As I'd promised her, I left her without the blindfold. I grasped her hand, entwining her fingers through mine unconsciously, but deliciously enjoying the tender contact. I had not enjoyed such a display of affection in a long while. But I managed to keep enough of my senses not to wander too far down my active imagination, and led her slowly along the shore towards a small cave. Victoria looked at me quizzically when she saw it, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"I found it sometime after I built my cottage," I told her, my voice almost betraying my true thoughts. "It brings me peace whenever I come here, if I can't go into the desert." She tilted her head, curious. "The desert? You've been there? But aren't the Gerudos, well… not hospitable to men?"

I hesitated and, frowning, bit the inside of my cheek. "Well, I… I'm very careful. It's one of the few places I can really think, you know?" He smiled, at her, showing my teeth a little. "Shall we?" I motioned to the cave with one hand, and beckoned her to follow with the other. She took it, and we entered the cave.

I led her through a maze of tunnels slowly, enjoying the silence of being in her presence. She was already on awe of the tunnel itself, her mouth a quarter of the way open and her eyes looking around in earnest, so it made me wonder what her expression would be when she saw what I really had in store for her.

She had her eyes closed now, and was wistfully smiling in anticipation. I smiled also, like a little kid, because I couldn't help it. I felt like someone showing his best friend something really cool; needless to say that combined with my feelings for her made me feel almost like a giddy schoolgirl.

But I didn't care.

And then we turned the corner. "You can open your eyes now," I whispered next to her ear so only she could hear it. She chuckled a little back, and then opened them. I enjoyed the gasp that escaped her mouth immensely.

We were at the base of a waterfall, not only that, but the back of it, and the mist the waterfall made sprayed lightly on various types of plants, all of which were useful for all types of healing. "Oh, Peter… this is… this is amazing." I smiled.

"I thought you'd say that." Still in awe, she looked at the waterfall. "Where are we?" I chuckled. "We're still at Lake Hylia. We're just… behind the waterfall that leads into the lake is all." I grinned. She looked at me, smiling,

Then she looked around at the candles in the tiny glen. "Did you… put these up yourself?" I smiled sheepishly. I actually _had_ put them up, but I had forgotten. "Yeah, I did. What do you think? The guy I bought them from said they were enchanted, but I…" I was rambling, and I knew it, but again, I didn't care.

"They are," she said suddenly. I looked at her, puzzled. "What?"

She looked behind her, into my eyes again. "I said they are enchanted." What? How did she know? Okay, she had to make up my mind about whether she knew about magic or not, now this was just confusing. But then I realized she had given the candles a strange look. It seemed wistful, almost needy. What was going on?

By the time I realized I was staring at her, rather stupidly, she had looked back at me again.

"Oh, sorry," she said, blushing again, "It's just that the candles were so beautiful… I wanted to see the craftsmanship of them." She shrugged. "I have a thing for candles." Candles? Really?

I reached back to scratch an itch on the back of my neck idly, unsure.

After putting my hand back at my side, I looked at her again, her slender arm reaching up to touch a candle. She looked almost pained that she couldn't reach it, so I decided to give her some help.

I put my hands on her waist, without thinking apparently, and lifted her up, smiling a little at the half gasp she emitted.

"Here," I said, "let me help you see."

I wasn't sure what she was doing, but I could feel a strong energy channeling itself through her. It seemed similar to the energy that had burned my hand when I had touched her forehead, but this was different. Perplexed, I lowered her down, the energy fading. It lingered even after I had set her back down on the floor.

"Looked at it long enough, have you?" I wrapped my arms around her waist and then rested my head on her shoulder. Okay, this was getting weird. Was it just me, or did I have absolutely NO control of my actions?

"Stop that," she laughed shakily, "It tickles." I raised a playful eyebrow. Yeah. I had no control. Absolutely none. And… why did it not matter? Frankly, why did I not care it didn't matter?

"A weak spot… no?" She turned around in my arms. She was really close. I could smell her sweet breath, like almonds. It wasn't terribly fresh, like she'd been snacking on them before she'd come to meet me at the ranch. Mine probably smelled like ham and cheese. I would've pulled away because of that fact, but as I said, I apparently didn't care. She grinned.

"You're such a tease, Peter." I leaned down and pressed my forehead to hers. Her skin was so soft… "Is that not why you're here? To have a good time, be teased, tickled…" In my mind I finished with kissed, but I scolded myself. We're just… very good friends. Yeah, friends.

I couldn't let her know what I was, rather, who I was. I feared terribly that she would hate me for it, and not ever want to see me again. My heart would break a second time.

"Weren't we here just to enjoy the beauty of this wonderful night? I mean, we can't just waste it on frivolous flirting." I blinked. She knew I was flirting? Wait, I was flirting? Again, I didn't care. I was too much in love with her now. Then I smiled, not showing any shock.

"Of course not. You know," I told her, taking her slender, silky hands into my rough, calloused ones, "there are better ways to watch the sunset." She blinked, surprised. "Sunset? It's that late already?" I smiled. This was my chance.

Then I lost my smile a little and grasped her hands tighter. "I'll take you home tomorrow if you'd like. You know how dangerous it's been since Gannondorf took over the castle." The sincerity in my eyes must've scared her, but I really couldn't take any chances. Knowledgeable of magic or not, I was afraid for her safety.

Then I returned my smile to my lips and led her to a wall on my right. It was indented, and an unlit candleholder was mounted on the wall beside it. "You might think it's just a wall," I said amusingly as I grasped the candleholder and pulled, "but it's actually…"

The "wall" slid open to reveal some twenty stone steps, spiraling left, before the shadows swallowed them. "Stairs," I finished. And then I held out my hand to her as I had done before, and picked up a torch with the other.

"Shall we, fair lady?" She smiled, and took my hand, giggling a little. She seemed to hold regret behind her velvety red irises. Turning around, she let go of my hand to look around the tunnel. I had things to think about anyway, even though I missed the feeling of one of her soft hands in one of mine.

Sometime around the thirtieth step, I had returned control of everything, stumbling a little on the steps. "Are you alright?" She had asked me, after which I had managed to croak out a, "Yes, it's okay." I was beginning to feel everything now, things that not even my love of her could not keep away. Desperation. Rejection. I tried to stop it, but my efforts were futile. I actually missed not being able to care, ethical as I am.

"Say, Peter? Did you make this?" she said quietly as we'd been walking. I glanced behind me in her general direction, since the stairway was not wide enough for us to walk side by side. "No, actually. I did rig the illusion spell, and the candle switch, but other than that… this is exactly how I found it. Honest. It does make me wonder, though. The place up ahead, well, it's definitely not natural."

"Maybe it was made by someone before Ganondorf took over…"

"Maybe," I hummed reluctantly in agreement.

When I arrived at the exit, I stopped, putting the torch in a cone on the wall. I watched her as she waked gracefully up the last steps, the setting sun's light once again making her extravagantly beautiful. He shook my head, grinding my teeth and closing my eyes. What chance, honestly, did we really have together? I was certainly kidding myself.

I flicked my shadow sprite, Portal, off my hands. I didn't want to ask him where he'd been, because he'd been gone so long, and now also wasn't the time. He flew away, not hurt, because he realized I was busy.

The hand I used to flick Portal off, however, had a ring on it, loosely fitted. In an instant, it slipped off, landing on the second step from the top with a soft clang. I bent to pick it up, sheepishly, but at the same time, so did Victoria.

And our lips met as our hands touched each other's, and we became painfully aware of the electricity that was surging through our veins. The soft skin that I had been yearning to not let go earlier was warm, far too warm for any normal person. Only a magic user's body could rise to such temperatures.

She broke away, startled. "Oh!" She gasped, "I- are you alright? Did I hurt you?" So sweet. She was worried about my safety more than her own. I wished I had such unselfishness.

"No, but-" I stopped myself. Then I cursed myself. Oh, you stupid imbecile! She's far too innocent a soul to be with someone like you! I was angry at myself for even letting this go as far as it had. What was I to do? But I shook it off, smiling apologetically, and held out my left hand to her.

She looked at it as if my hand was foreign to her. I wondered why for the briefest second, but then at once I realized the reason.

The black triangle that had been imbedded into my palm as a child. Ganonndorf's doing, I was sure. How else were Link and I two halves of a whole, though we were two completely different people? But that fact aside, she saw it, and seemed more than curious about it.

I led her to the middle of the balcony as soon as she took my hand. "It is beautiful isn't it?" She looked across Lake Hylia, my little shack a bit more than a tiny brown dot somewhere on our right. "Yes," she breathed, "very beautiful. I've never seen Lake Hylia from this far up before. It's…" she took a breath, "the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

She walked away from me to the stone bench by the balustrade railing, her fingers slowly leaving my grasp when she did. She sat down on it, her face facing the sunset to our left, her hands on the bench. I walked over to her, hoping to apologize for startling her.

"S-Sorry about the k-kiss, if you w-want to call it th-that," I mumbled, smiling weakly, my voice slipping in many places and my eyes shifting nervously. I sat down, facing her, the sun at my back.

She looked at me, confused. Why? Hadn't see been startled by what I had done? Well, the both of us had done it, but really wasn't it an accident more than anything? I had to tell her we couldn't go on as we were, and I could only bear being but a friend to her. She hadn't replied yet, so I looked away, feeling my apology had gone unnoticed or unaccepted.

"Hey. Look at me." I did so, surprised by her speaking. I tried to speak, but she cut me off.

She put one hand my left leg, gently pressing into the contact. My mind reeled. The tenderness with which she treated me was so wonderfully addicting, and I refused to take it. It was, shall I say, too good to be true?

"You don't need to be afraid to like me, you know." I frowned. "I… Victoria, we really shouldn't get too close." She sighed. "And why not? I'm willing to just be your friend, Peter. I won't… kiss you anymore." I raised an eyebrow at the way she said 'kiss' like it was foreign to her.

I cursed myself again for feeling this way. I just couldn't do this!

"It's… it's not that, I…" I closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead absently. My attempts at trying to discourage this were not working at all. Why did this girl have to be so damn persistent? Still, one glance told me she wasn't making a complete advance on me. In fact, she looked as if she were trying to justify her own actions with herself. "Peter, look. When you meet someone you know deep down is just like you, you don't just say 'it's nice to meet you, I'll see you around' and forget it." At this point, I snapped at her.

"I just don't want to see you hurt, Victoria! You don't know how dangerous it is to be me! So just back off!"

She winced, and shied away from me, tears springing to her eyes.

I instantly regretted my cruel words. How could I have said that? I wasn't that kind of person who lashed out at anyone! I wasn't! I'd meant what he said, though, but I hadn't meant to… to make her cry. Why did I always have to mess everything up? I wanted to use a few more colorful sounding words to describe myself, but I refrained from doing so and focused on Victoria.

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Victoria, I…" I slowly reached out to her and winced as she did, again. "Please, I didn't mean to snap at you, really. I'm sorry." I said the words over and over and I gently wiped most of her tears away. Once she was calm again, I whispered quietly, "I did mean it, though. What I said. I don't want to see you hurt."

She looked up at me and shivered. Was she cold? "I can take care of myself," she muttered stubbornly. "I bet you can," I said through a sigh I wanted to grin instead, but it certainly didn't fit the mood. "It's just not… safe for me right now."

I didn't notice that she'd moved a little closer to me when she spoke.

"But isn't this place supposed to make you feel safe? You told me it did. Just… let me in, Peter. Talk to me."

My eyes narrowed wearily. "I wish I could. I really, really do."

Yes, it was hard. I had already hurt myself once by trying to love someone who might or might not have loved me, and completely ruined any chances by moving too soon. I have known Link far longer than Victoria, and yet here I am, confused that I'm in love with _her_ and trying to come to some conclusion with most of my sanity intact.

I tried to curse myself for loving her once more, but I was losing the heart to do so. I could no longer feel anything else but the heat of the moment. It was now or never. I could choose to love her and be happy, or I could choose to not and… well, there wasn't much of an option for me now was there?

She had moved closer to me, again, her nose no more than an _inch_ away from my own. Her breathing was hot, the air around us, moist and muggy. I saw fire flicker in her eyes.

Then her thoughts became so loud I could almost hear bits of them. Surely she felt that the only way to know me was this… but now, I could choose. I wasn't immobilized by infatuation as I had been earlier. I realized, then, I did care. I chose to love her, finally giving into the moment. Both of our eyes closed at the same time as we leaned in, myself leaning down gently while she curled her fingers into my hair, pulling me closer. The heat was positively sweltering now, so hot the shadows within me were stirring. Magic was close. I could feel it.

Fire bit at me wherever my skin touched hers. It was almost chokingly hot now, but we were so close…

Our lips met at once in a passionate interlock as both my element and hers leapt fiercely and crashed inside the other. Recognizing each other, one timid and confused the other powerful but caring, both elements began to dance, slow at first and then fast.

I took a short breath, long enough to get my tongue to plead for entry, at which Victoria gladly obliged. Her tongue was so unlike Link's, a taste I could not explain in ten thousand millennia, and when it met with mine, I lost it. We never missed a beat, or skipped one, and I felt for one second that were one person, one body; one connected energy.

When we finally broke apart after what seemed like hours, small beads of sweat lingered on my forehead, the ones on hers sizzling with her inner fire that was most certainly still blazing.

I knew my eyes were truly betraying their true color now, because of the realization in her blood red pools. She was staring at me wistfully, with a similar smile on her face. She had removed her hands from my hair and let them rest on my shoulders. All I could think was 'wow'.

"Shadow," she whispered, "Is that your true name?" I didn't need to nod. I just hugged her tightly, not daring to let go. Tears tried to escape my eyes, but I would not let them fall. I was too happy for tears.

When I stopped and broke away, I whispered in a similar fashion, "Yes, it is. Peter was just… something that my…" I was wondering if I should say it, but of that, I wasn't ready to tell. "My father called me that in front of his servants." I watched as she looked out at the sunset worriedly. She looked like she wanted to go soon. No! She couldn't leave!

"Um… may I ask you something?" I was hesitant, and my red eyes were fearful. She looked back at me lovingly, and nodded. "Yes," she whispered again, "of course."

I took a breath in, and licked my lips. I had too much riding on this now.

"Will you- st-stay with me t-tonight? I really like you and I want to know more about you." Great, more stuttering. But no blush came. I was still riding my roller coaster of emotion to be able to fit that into the equation.

She smiled. She kissed me on my cheek tenderly, and then leaned next to my ear. "Yes, silly," she chuckled, "but this isn't like… I'm pretty sure it's… love."

And in that moment, my world had changed completely.

.oOo.

No killing… you promised… right? Well, I'm following a plotline I started WAY back, so far back I don't remember, but this is how it's gonna go. I hope that you DLxL lovers liked the little bit last chapter, and I might write a one-shot if you want me. Thanks and please review!


	10. Darkness Lurks Within

**Chapter Ten**: Darkness Lurks Within

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 10

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link, Link, Zelda, and Nintendo are not mine.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

Oh, a review! Thanks so much to Anonymous Sister of the Author. I know you were the teensiest bit disappointed with my changing of the paring, but the story that this ties into has sort of been in the works since I was ten.

But!

I will give you a gift; a sort of 'what if' ficlet. I hope when I'm done with it it'll make you happy.

**EDIT:** Giftfic will have to be put on a VERY long hold. Trying to finish up all my other fics first. Also made some minor edits to this chapter.

.oOo.

Shadow's POV

That was the best night of my life.

No, we didn't get intimate that night – get your head out of the flippin' gutter! It wouldn't have been bad even if it did; she was an excellent kisser despite the fact that she seemed shy and careful with her kisses.

She was too caught up in trying to figure out why this was happening.

As was I. Moments ago I had myself convinced that I was too worthless to be loved, and now here I am desperately trying to do all I can to take in this woman that is shrouded in nothing but mystery. She is… much like Link in her own right. I can't seem to see the innocence he has, but hers is much more preserved; still fresh, if that were at all possible.

She kept looking at me, blushing furiously every time, and I couldn't help but smile. It was too cute to me, almost puppy-like.

We talked that night, both of us scrambling for answers about one another.

"What were your parents like?"

I was sort of stunned, but came up with a safe answer. I wanted her to know the truth, but I knew that I had to be careful how much of it I gave away.

"I don't know. They were murdered when I was very little, and I was raised by a man that I thought was my father, who loved me for a time but grew… oh, what's the word I'm looking for…"

I rubbed my chin furiously as I thought.

"Ah… hostile. That's it. He grew hostile toward me. I managed to escape his grasp only a short while ago, which is why…"

"Why you're so reluctant to love me."

I nodded at her quick figuring of my situation. She seemed to almost understand completely.

"My parents are dead too, well, I know my mother is. I don't know what happened to her, but I think she died in the fire that burned Kakariko seven years ago. My father… he disappeared that same day."

She looked almost forlorn.

"I had siblings too," she told me, "but they… I don't know if they died, but I'm pretty sure they did."

"May I ask what happened?" I was hesitant; I didn't want to bring back bad memories.

She looked into my eyes and smiled. We were sitting on a stone bench, looking at the remains of the setting sun of Lake Hylia. Twilight would fall soon, bringing a few stars.

"It's all right," she said softly.

"It happened when I was nine," she began, "and we had planned a picnic that day by Zora's Waterfall. My little brother Nathan was playing by the waterfall, trying to touch it when…"

She stopped and bit her lip. Her silence and sullen mood didn't seem to fit her usually cheery but wary personality.

"He fell?" I supplied, gently.

"Yes." She nodded, no tears falling yet. Her expression still troubled, she went on saying, "After that, my twin Sapphire went after him. My father saw the way they went, and my mother told him to follow. He did so, and I followed him."

She paused then to catch her breath.

"I ran ahead of my father somehow, and saw that Sapphire had gotten a hold of an unconscious Stephen, and was calling out to me, frantically. At a slower part of the torrent, our hands almost touched, but we missed. The last thing I heard her say to me was my name, and then it disappeared into the wind."

Her right hand was up in the air, half-heartedly reaching out for the sister she never reached. It had obviously been a traumatic event for her.

She slowly put her hand down, looking off to the side.

"I stopped then. My father went ahead of me, but never found them. I had nightmares for weeks. They stopped eventually, about two months before my tenth birthday, but it was still… it still hurt."I nodded. I never had any brothers or sisters, but I could imagine what she felt, to a certain extent.

"I'm so sorry I brought that up. My life seems like sunshine and daisies compared to yours." Again, to a certain extent.

She smiled at me, a smile that felt like it could melt anything, forget that fact that she could apparently use fire magic. "Probably, but I'm too stubborn to want to be pitied."

Her forlorn expression morphed into an annoyed tiff, but it didn't matter,

"I'm not trying to pity you," I said simply.

She looked back at me with another one of those smiles.

"I know. I'm just… you know, letting you know?" I chuckled. She was a strange woman, but I couldn't help but feel close to her at the thought of finding someone so similar to myself.

Her naïveté behavior was very similar to Link's when I first met him, but still not as rough. Hers was more gentle, and quiet. I suspected that was how she behaved around others, too.

We talked long into the night, not just about family, but how we saw the world.

"What do you think of the stars?"

I asked her this once twilight had gone, and night had fallen, the bright specks of light shining brilliantly in the sky above us.

She looked at me, then at them. She was quiet for a very long time. Then, at once, so suddenly she nearly startled me, she spoke.

"Mortals wish they could reach them, deities don't think much of them, and the stars themselves gave at us more often than we think they do, never mind know they could."

Wow. None of that made much sense, but I assumed it did to her, given the fact she had thought for so long.

"I'm sorry if that didn't make much sense to you, but it does to me."

Yeah, go figure.

"What about you?" "Me?" "You. You asked the question in the first place didn't you?"

Yes, yes I did.

I chuckled. "Well remembered," I said.

I made a note to myself to remember I did not have the best memory remembering what I said. Speaking of speaking, she made conversation so easy to me. I could now start a conversation, and also end it, rather splendidly. Perhaps she had that effect on people.

I looked up at them then, thinking. After awhile, I looked back at her.

"I think they're other worlds, dimensions mortals can only dream of visiting. I'm sure what I said is much easier to understand than what you said."

She chuckled.

"Is that really what you believe?" she said coyly.

"Yes," I replied, slightly annoyed, but in the friendly way. "Of course I believe that. I didn't always; I just used to think they were put there for us so that we didn't have to be afraid of the dark. It's completely ridiculous how some people are so terrified of it. If they have a story good enough, it's rational, but sometimes…"

I shook my head, sighing.

She chuckled softly.

"I know what you mean. I used to be afraid of it when I was little. I grew out of it at some point, though." A gentle grin played on her soft lips.

And then I said the stupidest thing I could possibly say at that moment.

"Can I kiss you again?"

And I immediately regretted it.

She laughed a little, clasping her hands and holding them at her mouth, trying in vain to not let sound pass through. Her shoulders shook a little, and she shook her head looking at me with a new sort of smile. Her brilliant red eyes looked up at me with a strange parent-like wisdom.

"You don't always have to ask, Shadow."

I smiled back, gently.

"I know. Force of habit."

A few heated kisses later, we went back the entrance of the cave, and began the trek back to my cottage. Is you bloody head still the gutter? For the last time – we did not have sex!

We wouldn't have made it out of that little observatory even if we had planned it. You know how those things get.

We – I repeat – talked. That was all I could let myself do that night.

And kiss. What lovely kisses… they were very unique, much like the one Link and I shared. No food or smells to add something to it; it was just her.

"Are you hungry?" I asked her on the way back. I wasn't sure when she had last eaten.

"Oh, I'm ravenous! I didn't even have lunch…"

Caught up in all that excitement, she probably forgot. I was hungry too, seeing as that sandwich I'd eaten at the ranch was probably long gone.

"I'll make you some fish. It's kind of all I have right now…"

I chuckled, embarrassed.

She giggled. "It's all right. Do you have any bass? I heard their eyes make a wonderful puree."

I stopped, and looked at her a second.

"Their eyes? Who did you hear that from, a Zora?" She giggled again.

"No, my boss. The guy who owns the bar in Kakariko." Oh. That explains it. Really strange guy, short lump of a man. Makes me wonder if Zoras raised him.

I made her a late dinner that night, and we talked through most of it, trying to finish it before either of us fell asleep.

She fell asleep before me.

When I looked at how serene, how stunning she looked even in sleep, it jolted me into reality. I shouldn't stay here. If Ganondorf finds me here with her… he'd kill her.

I quickly wrote her a note telling her I had to go and… settle some things.

I remember giving her a quick kiss before I left, hoping I would see her again.

I left my horse there so that she could use it to get back home; with the money to pay back the ranch girl for the rental, if she didn't insist on paying.

I walked around the edge of the lake slowly, the shore waters lapping at my feet.

The night felt so still, like the air could be cut with a knife.

I almost took mine out to see, but quickly put away the idea; of course it couldn't. Figures of speech surely hated me. And love. Life. But not everything hated me. Perhaps not even Link.

My feet were boot-clad, and made footprints in the sand that were washed away every time the water came on shore.

When I got to the fishing house, I looked back at my own, wondering if I was doing the right thing. Then it came to me; what was I doing? I honestly had no clue. Protecting her? Me? Link?

I shrugged, turned around, and kept walking.

Now I had my hands in my pockets, looking down at the ground like a little kid in trouble. Why was I like this? I honestly couldn't say.

I was by the double set of fences when I realized something didn't feel right.

Maybe I was doing the right thing leaving her like that.

I looked back at the lake and realized something.

No monsters. Where were they? No Tektites, no Guays… no nothing. It was very creepy. Usually people rejoice when they see no monsters, but this was Gannondorf.

He was planning something.

Cautiously I climbed over the fences, more than wary. Fear caused bile to rise up in the back of my throat, but I forced it back down. Weaponless or not, I had to face my fears.

I walked slowly past many seedling tree look-a-likes, and few good young trees when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I froze.

I knew what it was.

And that he was standing right behind me.

I did not turn for a while, trying gain some kind of fierce composure that I knew would disappear the moment I met his eyes.

When I felt I had waited long enough, I turned.

There was nothing there.

Then someone grabbed me from behind, a hand masking my mouth with a musky bloody scent. I knew who had me.

The last thing I heard were the words, "It's time to pay up, boy."

And then everything went black.

.oOo.

Yes! It is done! I know, I know, not much action until till very end, but you'll see a good fight next time! It's also all Shadow's POV... hehe.

I give cookies to those that catch both the Stardust and Tsubasa Chronicles references! (I don't own those either… (blows raspberry))


	11. Saving Shadow

**Chapter Eleven**: Saving Shadow

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 11

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link, Link, Zelda, and Nintendo are not mine.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

Still working on your ficlet Annon.. anona… I'll just call you Asota. You know who are. My muses have fled from me (glares at everyone except Chiko) so everything is progressing very slowly or not at all. Come to think of it, even my Rp muses have left me… oy, my friend is gonna kill me…

Anyways, I will TRY to persuade my muses to get off their lazy butts and help me work (or myself rather. In all technicality they're just figments of my imagination. **Yami Vikki: HEY!** Heh, or perhaps not [sweatdrops]) so that my fics get moving again. So that's that, and on with the fic!

**EDIT:** The conversations should match now. Please point out anything that doesn't, thanks. Toodles! :D

.oOo.

**Link's POV-**

I'm sort of worried about Shadow.

I… have long since decided that I don't have feelings for him. Perhaps at another time, but now, not so much.

And Victoria's met him too, apparently. She came to me awhile back, around late morning (during which I wondered what in Din's name had made me so exhausted, I mean, I had only fainted in the Temple and walked back to the river's waterfall once I woke up), asking for Shadow.

She showed me the note he'd left, written in an elegant script I almost didn't believe was his. I had to remind myself that I'd never seen his handwriting before I looked her squarely in the eye.

"Wait, what?"

I watched as she stood eerily still, licking her lips and struggling to keep her composure, as if she were ripe to faint that very moment. She was thinking hard, choosing her words carefully, as was her usual. Then she took a deep breath and drew herself up a little to give her words a better backing.

"Link, let me explain," she said sternly.

I remember staring at her, studying her expression carefully. "Shadow? As in… the man who referred to himself as Peter?" I, too, was choosing my words carefully. While I very much doubted she was speaking of a different Shadow, I still wanted to make sure. Once she nodded I instinctively rubbed my chin with my right hand and muttered, "So that really is his name…"

I glanced up at her and nodded for her to continue. She obviously wanted to say more, and I realized that she was so weary-worn she could barely stand. Hopeful to get out her words before she promptly passed out, they fell from her mouth in a rush.

"I met him the day you were with him at the ranch. It was almost dusk, and you were arguing. You left, and when you left, you looked at me as you passed by and spoke to me."

I gasped inwardly and sat up straighter, the waterfall's thundering rush splattering flecks of water against my tunic.

"I asked you if you would help me. You said yes, but I never could figure out why. Actually, for the longest time, I debated with myself if you had said yes at all." She blinked, stunned. I'd obviously gotten to the point.

"When you left, Shadow, the one you were arguing with, took his horse and headed to the entrance. He… spotted me, though. And, he talked to me." She seemed off, on-edge, and I wasn't sure why. There was this strange energy radiating off her, and it felt like it was fluxing. The tiny magical core I carried told me that much. But since when had she too carried a magic core?

"I felt so comfortable in his presence; almost disturbingly so."

Why would she say that? I watched her eyes and was stunned at how much _older_ she seemed; as if she were actually less than the child the both of us knew she was underneath the woman's body she wore. But then, I thought, biting my lip, wasn't I the same way? Changing, irreparably, into someone who was no longer a child? I forced myself to listen to her, for she'd continued her feverish ramblings…

"The really crazy thing is that I'd wished on that key you gave me—" she gestured to the small golden key around her neck now, "—for love. Without you, I was very lonely."

I should have guessed that. Even two weeks after the change, I'd left her with a very real fear in her eyes. It had lessened once she began interacting with other people, but she was only doing just that. Talking to them, I mean. She wasn't really connecting with them. She wanted someone familiar, or at least comforting. Was Shadow's presence so comforting to her?

"Perhaps you were right about it, granting a wish for me. You know, the day you gave it to me." I nodded, seeing her point. "Perhaps. Anything really is possible in this place." I had meant the whole of Hyrule itself, but could only gesture my meaning by glancing around the ledges of the waterfall's enclosure.

"I longed for company, and for him. His company, almost. And when he asked me if wanted to see him again, I was all but elated, though it sort of showed…very much so, actually. I was so terribly embarrassed and shocked that I could be so forward."

"Naturally," I said quietly, nodding. Most of my thoughts were far, far away from our conversation.

"He met me yesterday at Lon Lon Ranch…" she trailed off, a finger at her lip. "Was it really that long ago?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "Anyway," she said, bringing her words away from her internal tangent, "he asked if he could blindfold me; told me it was a very special place that he wanted to keep secret. I agreed, seeing his point at the time, though it seems rather silly now. And I could somehow sense where we were going; it was so very _odd_," she stressed.

"I would expect so," I said. This was new. She'd never mentioned feeling anything before. "What did you feel?" She frowned a little. "It wasn't much what I felt, though the horse did jump two fences at one point; a sign we were headed to Lake Hylia. But I could smell the grassy terrain of the fields, and hear the difference of the horse's hooves on the rocky ground of the Gerudos' entrance ground to the grass. Link, I could tell what the _water_ was thinking. It kind of scared me a little, even though it felt as natural as breathing. It was very… surreal."

I nodded again, retreating back into myself to examine what she'd just said.

She was obviously very freaked out by even the thought of being something other than herself, since that alone nearly scared us both out of our skins. But even I could tell that something was not right about her anymore, something magical and very off-kilter.

"I don't know why that feeling is still here… it's like it's pulling me, like I need to be somewhere other than here. But, while we were riding, we…" she frowned, grimacing at the memory, "we were attacked."

I looked up sharply, but she didn't notice.

"He tried to defend me, but he didn't have a weapon on him. He was hurt, close to dying… and all of a sudden I felt power flowing through me and there wasn't any danger anymore. Actually, there wasn't much else of anything, since I'd fainted afterwards."

I saw general fear and worry for Shadow in her eyes at the memory of the incident. She really was head over heels for him. And so right for him she was… more than I might have been even if we still had feelings for one another, as he clearly didn't anymore.

"Oh, Link… it was strange. I blacked out somehow, perhaps the power was too much for me to take, and I woke up in Shadow's shack. He looked so worried…" I hadn't moved, and was staring at her silently, one eyebrow raised, listening. "He kissed me, on impulse I think. It seemed a natural thing to do, as my rescuer and all, but he felt it was wrong and he apologized." My lips twitched into a reminiscent smile.

I couldn't imagine someone like Shadow living in a shack. But perhaps… he'd told me nothing of his family, as I had also done, so it was entirely possible. How or why he was living in a shack was his own business until it became otherwise, but off the record, I began to wonder if his family situation was tied into Ganondorf. He did seem to have a connection to everything.

"I–" she interrupted my thoughts, "was a little angry that he _had_ apologized, and I kissed him back." She blushed darkly. "I had meant it, very much so. But it lingered for too long; a sign that… I wanted more than to thank him." She shook her head. "I really shouldn't have done it, but I just _wanted_ to. Or at least my body did. Shadow seemed a little shaken after I'd done that, but he still offered to take me to his secret place."

"And I guess the tension kept building and you both felt feelings for one another?" Victoria gasped a little, startled by my abrupt speech. "Yes," she said, groping for words, "that was it. We got to know each other, somewhat, but he was too rigid; he kept choosing his words too carefully. Too much of his words felt off, somehow."

"And he said nothing about his family?"

She arched an eyebrow. "He never talked to me about his family when we sat and talked," I muttered, almost to myself. Yes, I'll admit it. I was jealous.

"He did, but it was very generic. All of it true, but nothing specific." She sighed. "I'm afraid he's in danger." She looked at me fuzzily, her eyes dim and slightly unfocused. "But… something's holding you back?" I asked, gently prodding her. This Victoria scared me; it was not the intense, if not together young woman I had grown used to since our change.

Victoria looked up at me. There was no nod, just noticeable hesitation.

"Ah… yeah, kind of." She frowned, a slightly green hue flooding her pale complexion. "I did some sort of magic, and it's like it awakened something inside myself. I don't know what it is, but… it's like it wants me to go somewhere."

She grabbed my shoulders, and I was somewhat surprised by the sudden action.

"Please," she pleaded, "come with me, help me find Shadow." The last bit was less of the scared little girl she'd been seven years ago, and more like the woman she was. Stubborn, and very determined. I nodded. "Of course I'll help you." I paused, pulling her hands off my shoulders.

"Where are we going anyway?"

When we arrived at the steps of Kakariko, my question was answered.

"Why here? Is this where this…pull is taking you?" I was still quite unclear about the situation, but I didn't mind. I would help her.

She nodded, in a sort of trance that I couldn't describe. I could feel a magic source nearby, and the air was so thick with it, it was making me rather light-headed. I shook my head in an attempt to shake off my funk, and followed her.

Straight into Impa.

"My child," she said, looking down at Victoria, "you've found your way home at last." Victoria gasped a little.

"I…I know you. Are you perhaps Lady Impa?" Impa nodded. "And I believe you have come back for what is yours." Victoria seemed puzzled. "Mine?" I was puzzled too. What in this village was hers? I mean, she did live here, seven years ago, but that was seven years ago-what was left that belonged to anyone anymore?

"Yes. Follow me, and I'll give it to you."

We followed Impa to the house that had been hers before she'd given it to the people of Hyrule. Once we were inside the house, she dug through a drawer, and brought out a small house key on a thin coil of rope.

"This is the copy of the key to your father's home. The original disappeared when your father did, so it might still exist, and it might not." She looked down at Victoria, who was studying the key as she held it in her palm. "I believe you still know which home was yours, and I assure you it is locked, with not a single thing out of place."

Victoria looked up, but did not speak. She still seemed to be in the trance somewhat.

"Go on," said Impa gently.

And so we did, standing in front of a house near the Death Mountain gate. The grass in front of it was slightly charred, and there was a certain magical air about it.

Victoria was at the door, the key in the lock, but not turned. It was strange watching her like this, but I was at a loss of what to say to her.

Best friend or not, I hadn't the best experience with helping others with emotional things. "Are you going to go in?" I asked her. For a long while there was silence. Then she spoke, and very softly.

"I don't know. I…this…this place…it…I haven't been here in…in…so long, it feels. But I suppose it really has been that long hasn't it? It didn't used to feel that way… I wonder if I'm growing up." At last she reached for the key, turned it, turned the knob, and pushed the door open, walking inside.

I looked around, in awe. Such a place I couldn't even have imagined in my dreams… it was quaint, but held a sense of honor.

I stood in the main room; the parlor behind me to my left, looking around while Victoria explored the house slowly. Most of everything was covered in a find layer of dust, which I wisely chose not to disturb. My footprints in the dust on the ground were probably enough to make me feel disturbed for a long while.

When she finally came back to the main room, she stopped at the large family portrait, and I stood behind her.

She walked up to it, and touched each person in the picture tenderly.

"Me…Nathan…Father…Sapphire…and…" she stopped at a woman with dark black hair, long and wavy like her own, with ice blue eyes and pale fair skin.

"Mother."

In an instant, she turned, and flew out the door, yelling something in my direction that I could not discern. I watched from where I stood as she ran to the graveyard. I shook myself and turned to the painting again, studying the older man. His chiseled face was young, but wise, and his bright red hair was very akin to his daughter's.

As were his blood red eyes. Eyes of the Sheikah. I stood back in realization; my friend was part of an ancient race that I thought was nearly dead. Did Impa know?

"Yes, I knew."

"Ahh!"

I turned around, surprised. In my deep thought, I hadn't realized she had entered. I paused to catch my breath and then spoke. "I-I know. I let my guard down in my thoughts. I shouldn't have done that."

I looked back at the open door.

"Or left the door open." I added.

Impa chuckled. "All is fair, hero." I scowled. I hated that name. I got enough of that from Sheik. "I saw your friend run from here. I have a good hunch as to why." I tried to restrain a scowl. I hated their riddles too. "But… why do you linger?" I didn't hesitate with my answer,

"I am here to help Victoria save a friend. But she had something to do beforehand, evidently." I was proud with my comeback, and smiled a little.

"Really? I see. She must mean a lot to you." I nodded. "She was my only friend seven years ago. If she needs something, I help her. I'm pretty sure that's what good friends do, no?" Impa chuckled again. "Yes, I am sure of that."

For a while I just stood there, but then I turned to Impa.

"While I wait for her, would you give me a few lessons to better myself with this sword? I feel as though I'm letting it down, I know so little…"

Impa gave another low chuckle.

"As you wish, hero."

Again, I silently scowled as I followed her. When would they learn that I hated being called that? But I swallowed my irritation as I followed her to Kakariko's training ground.

.oOo.

**Shadow's POV-**

When I could feel again, I tried to move. When I couldn't, I tried to speak. But then, when I couldn't speak, and wanted to breathe, I couldn't breathe either.

I was stuck inside my own shell, my spirit not bodiless, but motionless and helpless. Gannondorf had left me nothing.

Nothing but my suffering and bitterness; forever trapped in my cold, motionless shell. I sat inside myself, shivering. I had thought perhaps I could break whatever had been done, whatever he had done, but I had tried that long ago. Tried and failed.

I even prayed to the goddesses, something I never remembered doing my whole life.

Inside the room of illusions, my body sat, against the tree. I could half see myself, and half see what my eyes saw. It was a strange feeling, being held in the limbo I was in, if one could call it that. And sometimes it was just one sight.

For a while I'd be watching myself in a strange, shadowy prison, my spirit twisting into knots with my soul's hands and face plastered against my confines.

And then I'd be inside myself, staring down at my expressionless face in the 'water'. I knew, because I could feel, yet not feel all the same, that my body itself was up against a tree. But this was all and illusion, my prison. And somehow… I felt I wasn't going to be here for very long.

.oOo.

**Link's POV-**

I was very sweaty, but I felt I had done myself a good service. Impa felt she had no more to teach me, and I felt like I really was meant to wield such a blade.

Victoria returned an hour or so after I had eaten the food the woman who owned Impa's house made for me, any and all traces of the trance gone.

But she was holding a staff of some kind, very intricate, and instantly I knew of the magical sort. The strained expression on her face meant she had a lot to think about, but she knew she hadn't the time.

"I can't explain this, Link," she told me as she noticed my questioning glance, "I just can't right now. Right now, we have things to do. We have to rescue Shadow!" Her face was still very unsettled, and that unsettled me. But I knew she was right, way deep down, somewhere; that we had to go.

And so we did.

I bought her a Zora tunic that was made for travelers of her gender, and she used a similar trick that Shadow had used to create duplicates of the Iron Boots.

_Good_, I thought to myself, _I don't have to have her clinging to me wherever we go down there._

Traveling to the Temple wasn't as hard as it had been with Shadow. There was something very odd, though, something that was not quite right. I almost shuddered, but I thought it would stir up more sand.

That was another thing; the sand was eerily still. Didn't move in the water at _all_.

I found she was quite skilled with the staff she'd brought with her from the graveyard, and even though my curiosity was pushing me to ask, I didn't, and I could feel that Shadow was getting very, very close. But where was he? I remember turning to Victoria, who had closed her eyes for a bit, as if searching for something. Eventually she pointed in the direction of a door to our right.

"That way," she said sharply.

It turned out it was the room with the waterfall.

"Not this room," I groaned, "please tell me you were mistaken." She laughed a little. "I'm afraid not. You're gonna have to give me a ride."

Good thing her tunic was fashioned similarly to an outfit worn by a Shiekah.

The next room was more of a challenge.

She surveyed it and shook her head. "Either we spend priceless time tossing that thing of yours back and forth, or you keep giving me a ride." At least she wasn't without her sarcasm. I half growled, half groaned, but got us across. Another thing that was good about her; she was a lot lighter than Shadow, and not nearly as half as distracting.

Once I'd killed the shield eater on the other side of the spikes, we stood in front of the door. Or rather, she stood, and I watched her.

"He's in here," she said softly.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

I went in, and turned around. "Aren't you coming?" She shook her head and shook a scolding finger at me as if telling me I should be more careful. "Yeah, yeah. Just be careful, all right?" Yep, I knew it.

I didn't say it, but I knew her FAR too well.

When we entered the room, it was very eerie, and strange. I shuddered. "This room doesn't feeling right, Victoria." She frowned. "Not right at all. What about that door over there?"

I shrugged. Wouldn't hurt to check it out.

I walked up to it, and proceeded to lift it up, but bars appeared on it, and I heard a yell from behind me that wasn't Navi's.

"Link! Look out!"

A silver blur whooshed past my nose as I turned, missing it narrowly. I sucked in a breath and looked at my attacker.

It was Shadow.

"Shadow what—" He moved to strike again, but this time I had drawn the Master Sword and blocked it. "Shadow, it's me, Link! Snap out of it!" But he didn't. And that's when I saw his eyes. I realized that this was Shadow's body, but whatever creature this was before me, it wasn't Shadow.

For the longest time I struck him, but he blocked my every move. I even did thing unexpectedly to throw him off, but I always hesitated, afraid to hurt my friend. I remembered Volvagia, and tears stained my face. Ganondorf wanted me to kill him. But… I couldn't kill him.

In one of my moments of hesitation, he slammed himself into me, throwing me back against the door, almost making me lose consciousness. He started to walk towards me, readying his sword to strike me down.

My sword had flown from my hands and I was all but defenseless, even with my shield.

But he stopped. He fell to the ground, a blue and red blur tackling him, throwing _his_ sword from his hands. I realized it was Victoria, and they were fighting, his focus off me. Navi was trying to tell me to grab my sword and finish him, but I couldn't hear her. I was too lost in this struggle between my two best friends.

They were somehow standing, but I still couldn't move. Shadow was struggling in Victoria's surprisingly strong grip, his clouded red eyes furious. His black tunic was soaked to the bone, his hair wet, plastered to his head, clouded with an almost silver tint. Victoria beat against his chest furiously.

"Shadow wake up! Wake up you idiot! Stop, Shadow! Stop! I need you!"

The instant she said that, no, the instant she'd spoken, stilled him, and I could almost hear something shatter. He drew in a breath sharply, and fell to first to his knees, and then to the ground.

Neither of us saw the room's illusion disappear.

I was still in shock, and by now, so were Victoria and Navi, but I knew that we were safe. That Shadow was safe.

We saved him. For now.

.oOo.

Ha! I'm done! Finally!

Oh wow, lots of action! Well, for me anyway. This chapter's goodness rivals Blood and Secrets, I think. What do you think?

(Hint, hint; review…. [looks at blue button] I have Sheik plushies…)

Oh, and thanks to my beta, Seshafi.


	12. Shadow's Rebirth

**Chapter Twelve**: Shadow's Rebirth

.oOo.

Title: Shadow's Light

Chapter: 12

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

Parings: Slight Link x Dark Link

Disclaimer: Dark Link, Link, Zelda, and Nintendo are not mine.

Description: There is a light within every darkness. You need only to search yourself to find it. But what if you are the darkness? How do find your light, if you are the shadows themselves?

Author's Notes-

I'm pretty sure this is the last chapter of this story. If you want to follow the plot, please continue with 'Divine Impurity'. Divine Impurity focuses around my OC, Victoria, and the general story of Ocarina of Time.

This story obviously centered more on the background story of Dark or, Shadow Link, and gave light to the possible paring between the two. If you like, I can continue from chapter seven differently in another story, a sort of rewrite of chapters nine to the end, with Shadow and Link having a few adventures of their own. (giggles fan-girlishly)

.oOo.

Shadow's POV-

Watching my friend fight me was the worst torture I could ever imagine. I knew Gannondorf had planned it to be like that, so that he knew I would suffer for my actions against him.

He knew exactly how much it would hurt.

And he knew it would hurt Link, too. Link would have to kill me. But when I had thrown him across the room into the locked door, something tackled me to the ground, sending my own sword flying and my body straight into the water that lined the illusion room. 

Whatever sent me plummeting to the floor began grabbing at what it could to hold me down, wrestling with me in their struggle. We tousled and tumbled, the water flying everywhere without either opponent caring. It was when we both made it to our feet and were struggling against one other standing that I realized who it was.

And my heart clenched at my recognition.

It was Victoria, the woman whose mystery had drawn me to her, and whose beauty and utter innocence had made me fall for her. Inside I slammed at my confines, begging, pleading, and yelling.

There was a sort of crack beginning to form just from my body hearing her breathe and seeing her, even if she was boiling with a strange, morphed rage. Her red eyes flared up like fire, but were mixed with the cries on her inside, begging me to take control. I was at a loss, even with the crack forming a little more with each slam I gave. I was at a loss of words for…everything.

And then I heard her yell at me, and I could feel each beat of her hands against my chest, hurting, my lungs screaming for air, I heard her voice and the walls of my prison began to fall.

In one last charge, I screamed, shattering the walls of my spiritual prison.

I fell to my knees, half clinging to Victoria's hips, but then the strain of keeping myself awake was just too much, and I fell to the ground, unconscious before I hit. And the illusion disappeared.

.oOo.

Link's POV-

Victoria was the first to recover from the shock, shaking herself and dragging Shadow up against the wall beside me, tending to the scratches I'd managed to give him.

There wasn't anything to serious. No bump to his head either.

He'd be all right.

Navi was next to recover, flying in front of my hazy vision up and down rapidly. "Hey! Listen! Snap out of it and get your sword!" She slammed her little fairy body into the side of my head a few times, waking my brain up some in the process.

I'd recovered enough by that time to get up and retrieve Shadow's sword as well as my own. Once the Master Sword was in its sheath, and Shadow's sword – a shadowy copy of the Master Sword – was in my hand, I came and kneeled by Victoria, setting his sword beside him.

"He'll be all right, won't he?" She nodded. "He just fainted. Whatever he did to take control again must have taken a lot of energy." I dug through my hat, pulling out a bottle of Red Potion. "That might help when he wakes up."

She nodded, and kept tending to him.

A stood a ways away for a while, just thinking.

"Why aren't you helping?" asked Navi. I laughed softly. "I'd just get in the way. Besides I…have a lot to think about." If I could see Navi nod, I would have, because I felt as though that was what she was doing. Navi might be a little annoying at times, but she had her moments.

Shadow began to stir, and I jumped a little. I wasn't prepared for the reaction he'd have at seeing me.

When he eyes opened blearily, he looked at Victoria, his breathing shallow but gradually increasing. "I-I'm sorry. I-I couldn't…couldn't do anything. Link…" he trailed off and then his breath hitched. He looked up at me, his eyes wide and pleading. There was silence, for a long moment, as if all the things that had happened between us since the last time we'd met were being discussed.

"Can you forgive me?" he whispered. "I wasn't myself! I couldn't…I—"

I held up a hand, silencing him.

"It wasn't your fault Shadow. If anything, it's me who should be sorry for even giving myself the thought of having to kill you. Why, if Victoria hadn't gone and did what she did, you might not be alive."

He nodded. "But," I added, "you're forgiven anyway, just so I don't have to see you looking guilty all the time."

He smiled, his heart at peace with me.

Victoria got up, helping Shadow, and they followed me into the next room. "In there is the Longshot. It's a upgraded version of your Hookshot." Shadow seemed very well informed about the temple, and probably the other temples as well.

I took it, and handed him the Hookshot. "Take it, then. It might still be of some use to you." He nodded, the awkwardness between us slowly melting. Now that everything was all in the clear, though there was still a lot of explaining to do on his part, working together like this felt so… right.

He looked the Hookshot over, and nodded to himself. "This will get us back to the main room, but we'll have to figure something out if we're going to defeat the boss together."

I nodded too.

The room beyond this one was slightly troublesome, with Victoria clinging to Shadow for dear life, and Shadow desperately trying to make the Hookshot hit some of the targets just out of its reach.

I was just about to use the Longshot to reach out and get them until Shadow was finally able to hit the target above me to my left. They were soaking wet, like myself, though I was slightly drier, and we were all thankful that these Zora Tunics (Shadow had somehow changed into his when I was trying to figure out how to use the Longshot…) acted as a sort of blubber of sorts similar to what the Zoras had.

They were geniuses in their own right, I swear.

We had finally made it back to the main chamber (as well as risen the water levels to the highest level possible), and were standing on the platform across from the ledge now accessible via the Longshot.

However…

"Well, I could take you over there, and them come back for Victoria and we'll all be over there." Shadow frowned a little.

"But that seems too _slow_. Are you sure there isn't any other way?"

"I don't think it could hold us all going across, and even with the water levels up, I don't fancy breaking the Longshot either."

I heard a sigh and light foot tapping, which I ignored.

"But we can't spend all that time going back and forth."

"It's just two people, Shadow!"

SNATCH!

I blinked, realizing that the Longshot was no longer in my hands. Victoria then grabbed me by the arm, and with that same surprising strength she'd shown the room of illusions, swung me over her shoulder, and shot the Longshot at the target.

The next thing I knew we went flying through the air, the sudden rush filling my veins with adrenaline. We came to a sudden halt on the dragon statue with a _slam_, after which I was rolled off to the side, and watched dizzily as she did the same thing to Shadow, rolling him off to the other side, and handing me the Longshot when she'd recovered.

"Problem solved," she said drolly, her curt voice dripping with sarcasm.

At that point, I almost pitied Shadow.

"That was very smooth," Shadow said, shaking his head. Apparently he was still a little dizzy.

"Yeah. Real smooth. You sure know how to seduce a man, Victoria." She laughed. "Only you," she said, waving another scolding finger, "only you."

And we entered the next room, collecting faeries before entering the boss room. As for the boss room itself, it wasn't much. "Does something feel very _odd_, to you?" Victoria asked. Shadow stroked his chin. "Yes. But I don't know what. I do know this though; it's too quiet. What's it waiting for?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Movement? I've noticed that the bosses of these temples usually react to movement."

Shadow looked at me. "And I'm guessing you want to be the person who drew the short straw?" I laughed a little at the expression. "Really, I was the person who drew the short straw in the first place. I'm only lucky you're here helping." They both nodded. "True," Victoria muttered.

Then I jumped out onto one of the four stone platforms in the middle of the funny looking water. "Hey! Link, this water looks funny! Be careful!" And there was Navi, who was once again, a little late on the uptake.

I sighed, and then turned around. "I…I don't get it."

Apparently I'd spoken a little too soon.

The look of horror on Victoria's face, and the look of Shadow's face staring at me, but his eyes looking up confirmed it.

Before I could turn around, something long and blue slipped around my waist, and as my Longshot flew from my hand to Shadow's, I slipped into the darkness of unconsciousness.

.oOo.

Shadow's POV-

Link had turned around, and I was perplexed as to why the boss was waiting so long. It wasn't until he spoken that a long, bluish clear tentacle rose from the water and snatched him, taking him below the water; trapping him.

His Longshot had flown from his hands to mine, and I realized that Victoria and I would have to save him.

That is, if neither one of us got captured beforehand.

"Run to a corner!" I shouted. "It won't be able to reach you there!" I made my way to the corner to the left, and she the right. I tossed her the Hookshot. "Oy! If it gets close to you, shoot it, and then whack it with that staff!" She nodded, her backside firmly pressed into the gap between the spikes.

I could see Link from where I was, trapped in some sort of transparent bubble that was holding him down. He was also panicking, and I could see why.

"Oh no… Victoria…"

"I see him, Shadow. That hole is sucking out air from inside the bubble. Air or water. Whichever it's sucking, we don't have much time to kill this monster."

I wished I could have been so calm.

The reason for my panicking was because a grating inside Link's bubble was sucking out water from inside the bubble and would suck out air once it got through with the water. The hole was also big enough for Link to fit through (Din knows where it could've gone) and was sucking at a fast enough rate to possibly snag him if he got too close.

So Victoria and I had to act fast.

I growled and grit my teeth as a tentacle rose in front of me, and using Navi as a targeting system, I shot the Longshot at the orange mushy mass and brought it out of the water.

I unsheathed my sword as quick as I possibly could and gave it as many whacks as I was able. My last whack sent the sword an inch deep into the stone, which I was barely able to take out of the stone to run from the boss's attack.

It appeared on Victoria's side next, and she stepped a little closer so the Hookshot could reach.

She almost got caught, but because she was so speedy, and her outfit was well designed, she was all right, and got a few good whacks in as well. It went on like this for a while, until I got myself caught.

The tentacle missed hitting me, but fell pretty close to my left leg. It rose up, and then shot for it, hitting its target, and bringing me to one knee. I tugged at my leg loosely, the tentacle sending sparks up into my body through my leg and numbing my senses. I could feel my grip slipping until a second pair of hands joined my own.

I didn't have to ask whose they were.

I also felt Victoria send a shockwave of electricity through my leg and into the tentacle, which now carried the weakened boss. The shockwave surprisingly didn't hurt, and also killed the boss.

I watched blurrily as it flopped around, desperately trying to make it to the water to attack one more time, but Victoria had grabbed my sword and stuck it all the way through to creepy orange creature.

"Thanks," I said exasperated, holding my head a little as she handed me my glop-covered sword.

She chuckled and thanked me, as though she knew what I was sarcastically thanking her for. "Yeah, sure. You're welcome." I groaned, and she laughed again. But with such a beautiful laugh, how could I be mad at her?

We both jumped down to find a soaking wet Link shivering and staring at the grating, which was now covered.

"Remind me not to come in here again," Link said, his voice shaking.

"Gladly," I quipped.

And then we disappeared in a flash of blue light.

.oOo.

Link's POV-

"If you see Sheik, please give him my thanks, OK?"

I nodded into the white light, as if Princess Ruto could see it. Light blinded the rest of my vision until I found myself at the edge of Lake Hylia, which was now filling up, Victoria and Shadow behind me.

I felt another presence; so I turned. Sheik stood watching the lake. It was a while before he spoke.

"Did Ruto want to thank me?" I nodded, at a loss for words.

"I see..." Finally, I found myself again. "See what?" If I could've seen a smile through his cowl, there would be one. "We have to return peace to Hyrule for her sake, too. Don't we?"

For Ruto? I made a strange, strangled sound, but coughed, then nodded. Yes, I suppose I had to save Hyrule for her, too.

"Look at that, Link... together, you and Princess Ruto destroyed the evil monster! Once again, the lake is filled with pure water. All is as it was here."

Sheik turned to me, and started to back up. "Wait!" I called.

Sheik chuckled. "You ask me to wait a fair bit, don't you? I cannot, hero, but you know where to go when you need me." And finally, Sheik threw down a Deku Nut, and disappeared before its blinding smoke cleared.

"Strange, isn't he?" Shadow muttered to Victoria. She shrugged. "He's a Sheikah. Strange is their life." Shadow nodded, agreeing.

I turned to Shadow then.

"Shadow, I…" I paused. I have to word this carefully. "What happened in the Water Temple before—" "Was entirely my fault. And I know that. You don't have to apologize." I nodded, confirming it. "So… what now? We just… be friends?"

Shadow smiled. This smile was something true, and genuine. Through every side of him he'd shown me, I had never seen this side. "Yes," he said softly, "but good ones." I smiled back. "Very good ones."

We shook hands, but the tender moment was ruined by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

We turned.

"What?" we both said, surprised.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Victoria had her hands on her hips, a wry smile on her face.

"Sure," said Shadow, "someone's got to keep an eye out for us, right?" She laughed. "To make sure you don't die? Yeah. What would you two do without me, hmm?" "We'd still be alive. We might not have all of our limbs, but we'd still be alive." Victoria laughed again.

"You two are nuts."

"Yep," we said in unison.

"Complete idiots."

"Yep."

"Insane, almost."

"Mmhm."

"And…"

"And?"

"And you smell like week old socks! Take a bath!"

What? Shadow and I looked at each other, nervous. "Uh oh…" We both laughed, shakily. "Oh c'mon we don't smell that bad…" Victoria gave us _that_ look. I looked at Shadow, and he looked at me.

"On three?" He nodded, a playful glint in his eyes.

"One…"

"Two…"

"THREE!"

We turned and sprinted across the bridge, laughing and just loving having the wind rush through our hair. Victoria was behind us, hot on our tails, but she was having fun too, even if she was yelling curses at us in Hylian.

Just like Navi, the world had its moments.

But nothing was, or ever would be, quite like the new life we were beginning as friends. My life now.

Forever.

.oOo.

OMG, it's done! (dies and comes back to life)

I finally finished a story! (squeals) I know, I know, you people are disappointed, but maybe I'll dedicate my 'What If' fic to Asota to everyone who reviews. So review! I have microwaveable cupcakes! (lol)

But I finally finished a story and I'm sort of riding that high right now. This is my first ever complete multi-chapter story. And I had such dedicated reviewers, too. (Sort of.)

I hope the ending wasn't too crappy. ;)

- Hikari no Vikki


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